


diphylleia grayi

by skeletonflwr



Category: Fate: The Winx Saga (TV)
Genre: Angst, Family Fluff, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 01:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 23,539
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29893887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skeletonflwr/pseuds/skeletonflwr
Summary: tumblr prompt: 'what if Farah and Saul had a daughter during the war who they had to give up for her safety and then she attends Alfea sixteen years after'.Or the story of how Farah and Saul finally have their daughter back.
Relationships: Farah Dowling & Saul Silva, Farah Dowling/Original Character(s), Farah Dowling/Saul Silva, Saul Silva/Original Character(s)
Comments: 46
Kudos: 93





	1. To the waters and the wild

Rosie made sure no one was around before crossing the portal. God knows Miss Dowling wouldn’t usually let a student use their own magic to get to Alfea, but since the young girl was in her fourth and final year at the fairy school, the headmistress decided to trust the student. She had taught her everything she knew, after all. Well, not everything. But enough to trust that the young girl would know what to do.

Rosie took a deep breath of air. Solaria and the beautiful and green gardens surrounding Alfea were what she enjoyed the most; having lived most of her life in Manhattan, some nice, fresh and clean air was nice for a change. 

Leaving the comfort and silence of the forest, she found herself surrounded by all the students arriving at the school for the start of the academic year. She went through them as quickly as possible, making her way to the greenhouse.

“What are you doing here instead of joining the other first years? You've been dreaming of this your whole life!” 

Rosie had met Terra in her first year at Alfea. She got along with all of her classmates, and had a fair amount of friends, but being the only one born in the First World, this whole new place sometimes made her feel a little overwhelmed, and she quickly discovered that the greenhouse was an excellent place to find some peace. The professor who spent most of his time there, Professor Harvey, was nice and kind and he never asked too many questions. He often asked her if she'd like to help with some of the things he does there, to which Rosie always accepted. He also had two lovely kids who spent the same, if not more, amount of time at the greenhouse than he, Terra and Sam, the pair being four and two years younger than Rosie. Despite that, she quickly found Terra to be a sweet, intelligent and empathetic girl, and so they became friends. 

“Rosie!” Terra squealed in excitement, approaching her friend for a hug, “How did you spend your summer?” 

“Cool!” She responded, both taking seats in front of each other, “I managed that internship at my brother’s company so I was mostly occupied by that; other than that it was a pretty typical summer. What about you?” 

“Oh well, you know, the usual. Spent most of my time here or in the cottage. Although we did take a trip to visit our cousin, Flora, and that was… 

One thing about Terra, she could spend hours and hours talking. But Rosie didn't mind. She enjoys listening to people, or rather, she enjoys making people feel like they're being listened to. She always engaged with the stories that she was being told, and enthusiastically asked for more. 

Being surrounded by students all her life, Terra had been told several times she spoke too much. But Rosie never made her feel like she was boring her, on the contrary, she would always make her feel as if her stories were the most interesting thing. Maybe that's why Terra felt so comfortable with her. 

“What are you two doing here, girls?” Professor Harvey asked, entering the greenhouse and seeing two students who should be anywhere but there. 

“Oh sorry Professor.” Rosie responded, while standing up, “I just came to pick up Terra and we got caught up talking. I hope you had a nice summer!” 

“Hello Primrose, and yes I did thank you very much. Miss Dowling told me about your work this summer being the reason you couldn't join us a week earlier as most of fourth years do, so I gather you've had a very productive summer,” he kindly answered, “well, Terra love you should be going if you don’t want to miss your first students’ reunion, and Primrose you should go to the Headmistress office to discuss some things.” 

“I'll head straight away, thank you,” Rosie said, letting the professor open the door for her, “and good luck Terra! Find me afterwards so you can tell me about your first day!” After that, the girl went through the door and started walking towards the Headmistress office. 

Rosie always gets so nervous when talking to the Headmistress. She could tell she was a kind and gentle woman, but to be honest, Miss Dowling shared as little as nothing about her persona. She was always composed, always strong, and most importantly always a figurehead. Rosie looked up to her a lot actually, but of course she'd kept that as a secret to herself. She did from time to time wonder if Miss Dowling could read her mind, but knew it was impossible, she was too respectful for that. Of course, Farah knew better than to intrude on other people's minds without their consent. 

She reached the Headmistress office, and was immediately stopped by the new secretary. 

“The Headmistress is busy right now, you’ll have to wait.”

“Oh, that’s no problem.” Rosie answered, taking a seat on one of the chairs there. 

The door opened suddenly, revealing a red haired girl who Rosie assumed to be a first year, since she had never seen her before. 

“Ah, Primrose,” she called, noticing the honey blonde girl sitting outside her office, “there's somethings we need to talk about. Please come in.” 

Rosie sent a half smile to the first year and then entered the office, the headmistress closing the door behind her. Four years and that place hadn’t changed a bit. She still remembers her first time there. 

***

“So, can you, like, grow a pair of wings?” A dark haired man, wearing a bold framed pair of glasses, was sitting next to Primrose in front of the Headmistress desk. 

“Well, we had wings in the past.” Miss Dowling explained, with an amused expression on her face, “But, as we’ve evolved, transformation magic has been lost.”

“So you guys can’t even fly?” The man asked, a cocky smile on his face, “That’s disappointing.”

“Tony!” Rosie angrily snapped at him. If looks could kill, her brother would not be very safe. 

“What? I’m just saying. I could perfectly build an amazing pair of fully functioning wings because of physics while you guys over here have magic yet you’re telling me you can’t even fly?”

Rosie shot a pleading look to the two people sitting in front of her. 

“I am genuinely so sorry for this, I promise I’ll behave perfectly so you hopefully don’t have to see him again.”

“I’m just messing with you kid.” Her brother answered lovingly, tugging her on a tight embrace, “I will miss you. But just a little bit tho don’t let it get into your head.”

Yes, Tony could be annoying. Sometimes, too self centered and narcissistic. Hell, he would even challenge the expert fighter in front of him if could make a point out of it. But Rosie loved him more than anyone else in the world. Ever since their parents died, Tony had been adamant of being the one to have custody of his little sister, since he wanted no one else to raise her. And yes, he was flawed. But he tried his best, and Rosie knew that. He had never missed a single one of her stupid ballet or piano concerts, he had been always there for anything she needed. It has always been like that. Them against the world, and Rosie would not change that for anything in the world. 

“Well,” the Headmistress cleared her throat, “as you can see, Primrose is all set. Her classes will begin the day after tomorrow, and on certain days she will be allowed to come back home for a couple of hours, she just has to let me know. I promise that she will never be further than a call away, Mr. Collins.” 

“That’s nice but I wouldn’t object if you placed her somewhere even further tho.”

Rosie just rolled her eyes. She’d miss him so much. But she knew he would start crying probably if she told him that, so she kept it to herself the whole trip back to the portal, where both Miss Dowling and Professor Silva had accompanied her so Rosie could say goodbye. 

“Okay kid, you know the deal.” Tony started talking, standing next to the door, “Anything you need, and I mean anything…”

“I’ll call you.”

“Doesn’t matter if you just need to talk about something, or just say hello, or complain about your annoying new teachers…”

Saul and Frah laughed to themselves at this comment, looking with amused faces at the conversation between the two siblings. 

“I’ll miss you Tony.”

“I’ll miss you too, kid.” The older man pulled Rosie in a hug, who gladly hugged him back. They spent like that quite some time, but she didn’t feel like it was enough. “Okay,” he said, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead, “goodbye kid. Promise me to have fun and learn a lot. I love you. ”

“I love you too. And I promise I will. I’ll send you the first spell I learn.” She didn't really want to let go of her brother, who was already approaching the portal. 

“And remember,” he added, before opening the door, “I’m just a…

“Phone call away.” Rosie finished for him, “I’ll take you up on that.”

“Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Seeing the man disappear in the dark, the Headmistress walked forward to close the door and make sure the portal was properly closed. After that, she turned to see the young girl, looking at where her brother had left with a sad look on her face. She hadn’t cried, but Farah could tell how hard it was on her to let her brother go. 

The Headmistress gently touched her back to indicate the way they had to go, and Rosie felt something she had never felt before. Sort of an electric feeling she couldn’t really understand.

“Come on, Primrose, you have a ton of things to do back on the school.” She said, knowing the young girl needed some sort of distraction. She took the first steps towards the school, Saul taking her side with Rosie following them right behind. “I promise we will take good care of you.” She added, turning to see the young girl. 

“Oh, I know, thank you.” Rosie said with a sweet smile, “I’m just not used to being this far from my brother. I’ll get used to it.” She added, shrugging her shoulders. 

They kept on walking, in a comfortable silence, the long way back to the castle. A light rain was pouring above them, and Rosie noted her hair getting wet alongside her clothes. Her outfit hadn't been the smarter choice, since a skirt was anything but comfortable when hiking under the rain, but Rosie had no way of knowing there was such a long walk between the castle and the portal.

When they approached the barrier, Professor Silva offered to help her climb the wall, to which she gladly agreed. “Thank you.” She said, after all three of them were inside the comfortable embrace of the barrier. “What’s that for?” She added, pointing towards what it seemed to be the forest. 

“Oh, the Barrier?” Farah asked, slowing down a bit so she could place herself next to the girl, “It’s like a magical force field that doesn’t allow threats to get into the school.”

“What kind of threats?” Rosie asked, curious. 

Farah looked at the girl with an amused expression. The girl had known the older woman for less than two hours, yet the Headmistress could tell she wasn’t one to hold back when it came to all sorts of questions. 

“Threats you will never need to worry about, Primrose. I promise. They’re gone.” Farah looked at the girl,a gloomy expression on her face. Wasn’t that the reason they had done what they did? To keep her safe? To make sure she would never have to fight those monsters?

Seeing that she was going to get no answer from the older woman, Rosie turned to the man walking besides her. 

“Do you always carry that sword on your back? Why would you do that if there’s nothing you need protection from?”

“You’re an inquiring little thing, aren’t you?” He answered, a soft smile on his face, not really annoyed. 

“It’s just that this world seems so much cooler than mine! There’s no such thing as fantastic monsters back where I live, and I can only imagine what sorts of things happen here.”

“Well, if you pay attention in class and do your homework, you’ll be knowing all of this stuff in no time.”

“Alright.” Rory just shrugged her shoulders. “Will I get to learn magic on the first day of classes? What kind of magic? I’ve never used it actually. I really had no clue I was a fairy up until you and Professor Silva came to my house.”

“Well, your first year is all about the element you were born with, which is your case is light. But we will start with the basics. How to connect with it, how to generate and manipulate it, being able to move it around, but that’s about it. Light magic is very powerful. You will eventually be able to control the light that other people’s eyes perceive, making them see things that aren't there, or being able to project your image without physically being there, but that will take time. 

“Is light the element you were born with as well?” Rosie asked, happily accepting Professor Silva’s help to cross a small puddle in the way. 

“No, I was born as a mind fairy,” Farah answered, but after seeing the confused look on the girls face, she added, “That means I’m connected to the magic of the thoughts, memories, dreams.”

“So does that mean you can read my mind?”

“I could if I wanted to.” The Headmistress answered, “At first I couldn’t control it, which could be very overwhelming at times, but then I learned how to work on it.”

“I thought it would be more Tinkerbell-like,” Rosie said. “You know, water, wind, flowers, light, plants, that kind of stuff.”

“It’s something like that I guess. Also, Tink was an air fairy.”

“Tinkerbell is real?!”

***

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here early,” Rosie apologised, while taking a seat in front of Miss Dowling’s desk, “I was caught up with some work, I didn’t mean to be an inconvenience.”

“I know, I got your emails. I hope it was a nice experience for you.” Farah answered, looking at the student in the eyes. The same chocolate honey eyes as her. But where there was coldness and a bit of fierceness in Farah’s, there was nothing but kindness and gentleness in Rosie’s eyes. Just like Saul’s. In the four years she had seen the girl grow up and learn at Alfea, she did not once saw her get mad, or even annoyed for that matter.

“It really was!” The student answered, feeling a little bit more comfortable, accepting the warm cup of tea the headmistress was offering her. Mint and chocolate, one of the student’s favourites. “I’m glad I did it, really. My brother can be a bit harsh sometimes, but I do understand it’s necessary.”

Her brother was the owner of an engineering and technology company. He was smart, accomplished, and ruthless. A known perfectionist, hot headed and a work addict. The fact that he was Rosie’s older brother did not make the internship easier, but that was fine because Rosie was hardworking as well. She got the job done, she got good grades, and most importantly she gained experience and made a good impression towards the people who taught her.

“Yes, sometimes being… harsh is necessary.” The headmistress agreed, taking a sip of her cup, “But let’s get focused here. I asked you to come because there’s some things we need to clear up before your classes start tomorrow. As you know this is your fourth and last year at Alfea, so there’s some choices to be made.” she added, clearing her throat, “First and most important, you have been partnering with Peter as your specialist, do you still want him to be your companion?”

“Yes of course.” Rose answered, not a hint of doubt in her voice. “I’m afraid it’s him or no one.”

“He said the exact same thing” the headmistress answered, a small smile on her lips. Their bond and enthusiasm reminded Farah of herself and Saul when they were younger. Hopefully the kids today would never have to go through what her and her specialist went. “Now, you also have some extracurricular activities you can choose. They’re not mandatory, but very much advisable. Here’s a list of them.”

The headmistress offered Rosie a large sheet of paper, which she happily took. She carefully read all the interesting and colourful options, until she settled for two. 

“I’d like to take alchemy, and the Specialist’s Training program” she confidently said. 

“Are you sure?” Farah questioned her, “Headmaster Silva can be… tough sometimes. Especially on these courses.”

“Oh, I know, Peter told me.” the student answered, a mischievous smile on her face. She knew how hard Silva pushed his students, she’d seen it. But she felt like she was lacking the combat part. She always relied too much on Peter to protect her, and that wasn't fair to him. “But he also told me professor Silva is a lot softer than what he pretends to be.”

Farah couldn’t hold a smile at that statement, looking at the student with glow on her eyes. Primrose somehow always managed to say something that would catch her off guard. Between the both of them, Saul had always been the nicest one, he had a soft spot for his students. He did push them hard, consequence of being trained soldiers, but never to dangerous or too tiring limits. 

“You are correct there as well, Primrose,” she answered, not trying to hide a smile, “but I worry you might be taking too much. Classes and specialist training is no joke.” Oh, Farah knew. Rosalind had put them through hell. All fairies were also physically trained. Specialists did not have a minute rest. She would have forced magic on her specialist partners had she been able too. Perfect soldiers, that’s what she wanted. 

“I like to keep busy.” Rosie answered confidently, yet she still noticed the worry in the headmistress' voice, “But I promise I’ll tell you if it gets too tiring. I’ll drop one of them if that happens.” It’s okay to fail sometimes, her brother had always taught her that. 

“Well, as long as you’re sure.” The Headmistress replied, more at ease. The girl was strong willed, but she was also smart, and she trusted her, so she closed that topic. “Now before we finish, I’m sure you have already been told by the concierge in the entrance, but you’re still in your old room, with Lily, Alice, Dorcas and Marlene, I hope that’s alright, the four of them have request it to keep it that way.”

“Yes, that’s perfect.” Rosie answered with a smile. Of course she wouldn’t like to be separated from her best friends. At first it was a bit messy, being the five of them all fairies with different elements. But their personalities complimented each other nicely. Lily was the more rational one, which helped to ease Marlene’s fierce self when needed. Dorcas was probably the funniest person Rosie had ever met, and she was so nice as well. Alice was the one that shared the most with Rose, personality wise. They were both chill and kind, rarel losing their temper. That meant they both always had the best control of their magic, even though that meant they were definitely not as strong or powerful as the rest, but Rosie didn’t mind. She’d seen how awful things could turn out when fairies lost control. 

“Okay, that’s settled then,” Farah said, getting up from her chair and inviting Rosie to do the same, “you’ll be given an itinerary at the end of the day with all of your classes.” She added, opening the door to let the student know she was being dismissed, “I hope you have a nice start of classes.” 

“Thank you Miss Dowling, for all of it. See you tomorrow!” After that, Rosie walked through the door, leaving the headmistress behind. 

Not a minute had passed since the girl left that Farah got an unsettling message from Saul: 

“Outside the barrier. Now.”

***

“You know you are supposed to actually beat your opponent, not chat with them right?” Rosie called his best friend’s attention, covering her face with her hand due to the sunny weather. He was up on the platform, talking to some first years about who knows what. 

Four years later, Rosie still couldn't get used to how attractive Peter was. His tall, slender yet incredibly toned figure complimented his gentle features so much. He had brown, messy hair and the kindest brown eyes she had ever seen on a person. 

“Hey, I thought you were arriving later, I was about to go change and wait for you at the doors!” Peter answered, offering his hand to help her sit next to him on the platform. 

“That’s sweet,” Rosie said, smiling at him, “so what’s going on over there?” She questioned, seeing the three professors worriedly walking towards the forest. 

“I don’t really know, some second year found the body of the pastor in the woods, deeply injured.” He shot a glance at the boy, surrounded by curious students, “Maybe a bear?”.

“Or a wolf,” Rosie said, “anyway, we shouldn’t worry, not until the professors know what’s going on.” She added, a confused look on her eyes. She knew they were both thinking the same. They had both heard the stories. But it couldn’t be right? Not sixteen years after. Her friend gave her a reassuring look, holding her hand to leave a kiss there. 

“I’m sure it’s nothing to be worried about.” Peter really had the kindest features she had ever seen. He always managed to make her feel at ease. “So, which classes did you decide to take?” 

“Alchemy and Specialist Training!”

“Really?!” A surprised look on his face, “That’s so cool! We might actually train together! I didn’t know you were interested in it. You know, Silva is ruthless with fairies that decide to take the training course.” 

“Oh, Miss Dowling told me.” Rosie answered with a laugh, “But that’s okay. To be fair I’ve always wanted to try your classes, they’re so different from what we do. I worry I might be not prepared enough tho” 

“Are you joking? Of course you’re prepared! You go like, running every morning and have already taken martial arts lessons.” He said with confidence, “A few weeks of training and I bet you’ll be kicking my butt right on this platform.”

Rosie smiled, and gave him a little peck on the lips, which he gladly accepted. “I should go see how Terra is doing, she just texted me her suite number so I guess she wants me there. See you at dinner?”

***

“Maybe a wolf?”

“Or a bear,” Silva answered, crossing his arms, “could have gone out to protect his herd, got surprised.”

“I’m happy to continue the guessing game, but,” Ben interrupted, using a small knife  
to take something out of the body, “this is char residue.”

Both the Headmistress and Headmaster were quick to fix their composure, clearly taken aback by what their friend had just said. Of course, that had been the first thing on their mind as soon as they saw the body, yet they both decided to keep on being as positive as possible, but all those traces of hope got lost as soon as they heard the char mention. 

“How long since the last sighting?” Saul was the first one to find his voice again. 

“About two decades-”

“Sixteen years.” Farah corrected Ben, “Rosalind was relentless.”

“Could have been hiding on the mount—”. Typical Saul, Farah thought. Always trying to look at things the best way possible. She knew she could very much use and learn from that, and that sort of hope into the future was one of the things that Farah loved the most about Saul, and yet she was getting a bit annoyed about him holding so tightly on such a thin ray of hope.

“She killed all the burned ones.” She answered, not doing a good job at hiding her annoyance, which both friends actually knew to be fear in disguise. 

“We thought she did.”

“Ben, what we think is irrelevant,” she snapped, “the Barrier is doing its job. Until we know something for sure, let’s get this cleaned up before gossip starts.”

After one final glance to the body, she turned her back on them, starting to walk towards the school. Saul knew it was the best to let her clear her thoughts before talking to her. He also knew about all the fears that must be coming back to her, once again. They had suffered that before, they never thought they would have to see their students suffer it too. Most importantly, he knew she was thinking about all they had at stake back in the school. The promise of a family, once again broken, like it had been all that many years before. 

***

The day went by on a breeze. Rosie went to the welcoming party, she met Terra’s new roommates: Stella and Musa (although they weren't able to find the other two, Bloom and Aisha). She was also introduced to Sky, but she knew him already. Silva’s son, who already lived in the castle when she had started attending Alfea. She met with her friends at her own suite and unpacked her bags, she caught up with them and everyone talked about their summer, and lastly, she went to Peter’s room where they spent most of their afternoon. It was already dark when she told him she should probably go, looking forward to taking a shower and then going to sleep. 

As always, Peter helped her get her clothes in place and made sure she was alright. He was always so gentle with her, so sweet and respectful, really Rosie could ask for no more in a best friend. 

“Bye,” he said, while leaning in the door, “see you tomorrow at class.”

Rosie said goodbye, and then headed towards her room. She was turning the corner towards the fairy suits, when she started overhearing a conversation: 

“-you drew on a good deal of magic without even trying. It’s hard to believe you’re from a dormant bloodline. Is there any chance you’re adopted?”

Rosie froze at those words. She was not one to spy on people, or purposely listen to conversations she wasn’t part of in the first place, but she knew those words too well. 

‘Dormant bloodline’. Those were the words Miss Dowling used, already four years ago, to explain to her why she was a fairy while her parents were humans. “It’s rare, but it happens.” She had said. “Probably a distant relative who went to the First World and tried to have a different kind of life, you shouldn’t worry too much. The important thing is that you’re here now and you’ll learn how to control it.” Rosie didn’t think too much about it, as she was advised, but still, from time to time, she couldn’t help but wonder. She knew Peter found it weird as well, but he never said anything out of fear of scaring his friend. 

So, ashamed, she hid behind a column, waiting to see how the conversation ended.

“No,” the other girl answered, “No, I… No, I’ve heard the story of my birth a million times. ‘Miracle baby’, I… had a heart defect in the womb, but a day after I was born, it was gone.”

“Oh god,” the first girl answered, her voice trembling, “you’re a changeling.”

The girl moved to sit next to her friend and Rosie took that as her cue to go. She had already heard too much. 

She nervously started walking through the halls, thinking about everything she had listened to. Of course she had found it weird that her parents had never known about magic, yet here she was, a fairy. Not that her parents ever got to find out about that. But she never thought twice about it, because the Headmistress told her not to think too much, so that’s exactly what she did. She accepted it. She went to school, learnt her magic, and came home to her brother every summer, not thinking twice. But maybe she should have given more thought to the matter. 

She did the first thing that came to her mind, and started walking towards the Headmistress office . Why spend time thinking all of this by herself when she could go ask the person who had an answer to everything: Miss Dowling. Rosie didn’t want to be an annoyance to her at such times, but the Headmistress had always taken pains to let her know her office door was open for whatever she needed, so she would take on that offer. 

Rosie was about to knock on the door, when the thing opened itself, to reveal the Headmistress sitting behind her desk, a concerned look on her face. Professor Silva was alongside her. 

“Primrose? What’s wrong?” Farah asked, immediately noticing the distress on the young girl. 

A little taken aback by Headmaster Silva being there as well, Rosie approached the desk slowly, struggling to find the words she wanted to say.

“Are… my, no, sorry, um…”

“Do you need me to go?” Professor Silva asked, in a gentle tone. 

“No that’s okay, really I was just wondering… I, I wanted to know…” Rosie started thinking the reason why she couldn’t find the words was perhaps she didn’t want an answer. “... were my real parents actually fairies?”

To say that both of them were shocked by the question is an understatement. The Headmistress looked as if she had seen a ghost, and Professor Silva looked as if he had yet to process what the young girl had just asked. 

Among everything that could have had Primrose so distressed, questioning about her parents was the last thing Farah thought she would ask about. Sure, the girl had had her doubts when she had first explained to her how it was possible for her to be a fairy while her parents weren’t, but after Farah reassured her telling it was perfectly plausible, she stopped the inquiry. As a matter of fact, she had never even brought the subject up, even after three whole years attending the school, and multiple classes with her as teacher. What had pushed the girl to ask now? 

“It’s just that I find it weird that both my parents were humans, born in the First World, and yet here I am, a fairy. Is… Is that even possible, Miss Dowling?”

“No. No Primrose, it’s not.” Farah was full expecting the girl to raise her voice and demand her to explain why she had lied all those years ago. But she didn’t. Instead, she remained calm, and quiet. 

“Do you know who they are?”. To this, Rosie had already an answer in mind. She wasn’t stupid. She noticed how much attention both adults paid to her, much more than the rest of the student body, just as much as they paid to Sky, Terra and Sam. She had noticed the chills she felt every time the Headmistress and her happened to brush each other; she had noticed with so much care the ruthless Specialist’s professor looked at her. Above all, she had noticed how much longing to talk to her both had. 

Still, it had never been more than a baseless speculation. A silly thought that every once in a while would cross her mind, and she would brushed it off as soon as it had appeared. How could it be possible if even after three years, they had told nothing? The last time those ridiculous thoughts had come to her mind, she laughed at them. But now, sitting across them and seeing at the way they were looking at her, that speculation didn’t seem so ridiculous anymore. 

They were looking at her as if she wasn’t real. Some sweet, melancholic memory from the past. A long lost dream they had to give up in order to win a war. 

“I’m sorry, Primrose.” Farah answered, knowing that the girl had already figured all these things out by herself. Farah knew that deep down, she had akways known. 

“Why?... Why now? Why after… all these years?” 

“It's not easy to explain…” 

“Bullshit!” Rosie screamed, anger piling up on her chest, “You have known everything for all this time yet both of you said nothing? Do you even know how confused I've felt all this time? How I thought I was losing my mind everytime I thought about it?” Feeling the tears starting to fog her vision, she stood up abruptly. She didn't like snapping like that. She didn't enjoy the bitter feeling on her chest. Both of them had been deprived from seeing their daughter grow up for God knows what awful reason, yet all she cared about was her. Rosie didn't like being so selfish. 

“I… I need some air, I’m-I’m going outside.” 

Standing up, feeling her chest tight, like she was being choked and left out of air, Rosie left the room. 

Both of them had already stand up, ready to follow the distressed girl, when the office door was opened again. 

“Miss Dowling! Bloom has gone to the forest, by herself because she missed her parents and Stella let her use her ring to make a portal and so she left and now we don't know where she is and-”

“I’m sorry, what?” Farah asked, she hadn't been able to pay attention to the girl, for her mind was still thinking about the way Primrose had run away from them. 

“Bloom is alone, in the forest. I think she might be in danger, Miss Dowling.” 

“Shit.” Farah cursed under her breath, following her students' way, knowing that in this case her duties as Headmistress had to come before her ones as a mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English is not my first language so sorry in advance for all the possible mistakes made, constructive criticism is always appreciated! 
> 
> Also, I wasn't planning on this to have multiple chapters but I actually really like the whole prompt, so who knows. I suck at writing so if someone wants to keep on writing this story by all means do so! 
> 
> And, is Rosie a likeable character? I tried to make her as kind as possible, but I not know if I succeeded
> 
> To explain the title a little bit, diphylleia grayi is a type of flower, you should check it out! Its so pretty


	2. No strangers here, Part I

“Farah...”

“I need to get in its head. We need to know if this is an isolated incident or something more.”

“Something more? Like what?”

“I found a changeling in the First World.” Farah said, after a pause. 

“A changeling.” Saul sighed. “I’ve not heard of one of those in centuries.”

“Yet there she was… left sixteen years ago, right around the time the last Burned One was spotted.”

“You think it’s all connected.”

“I’m struggling, Saul. Rosalind kept so much from us. I’m worried about the students…” Farah said, turning to look at the window, “and I’m worried about… her.”

“Who? Primrose?”

“This is exactly the reason why we had to give her up, Saul.” She said. “We made that sacrifice because of her and now she’s not even safe here.”

Farah took a seat next to the window. 

“Our daughter will be fine, Farah…”

“She’s not ours Saul.” Farah snapped at him. “She’s never been. She has always been Howard’s and Maria’s.” Bittersweet as it felt, Farah was genuinely grateful towards both of them. The appreciation she felt towards the older pair for taking in and loving her daughter so fiercely, was more than enough to cover the tiny ray of jealousy she felt knowing that other people got to see Rosie grow up instead of them.

Her pregnancy twenty years ago had come as a surprise to both her and Saul, a rather worrying and not so joyful one, for they were both soldiers fighting a war. But that didn’t mean Farah and Saul had loved their daughter any less. She still remembers the day she got to hold her little girl on her arms. Farah had never felt so drawn to such a little person before. All she wanted to do was hold her on her arms, forever. Saul and Farah could only think about all the many things they wanted to do with her. How Farah would teach her magic and stories about her brave parents fighting scary monsters, who by then would be nothing but an ugly memory from their past. How Saul would teach her to fight, and read sweet bedtime stories. Every time they felt like the war was ending them, they'd come back to those memories, their most treasured ones. More than everything they desired to hear her first laugh, see her first steps, be there to comfort her when she cried. But they knew they couldn’t. Even if they wanted, Farah knew Rosalind would never let them be anything else but soldiers. And to her mentor’s eyes, that kid would be nothing but an obstacle to her goals. So Farah and Saul did what they thought best, even though it had hurted more than any lost battle. They went to the First World, and contacted Howard Collins, a middle aged business owner, and one of the few humans who knew about fairies and the existence of the Other World, and him and his wife, Maria, who had been trying for ages to have another kid, to no success, were more than happy to welcome a new addition to the family. 

And so Farah and Saul left, knowing that their daughter would grow up being as loved as possible, in a happy and accommodated family who would raise her as if she were her own, but with heavy hearts, knowing that her family would never be them. 

“She looks just like you.” Saul said, caressing Farah’s cheek. “Same eyes, same hair, same nose… I couldn’t believe my eyes when I first saw her four years ago.”

Farah laughed under her breath, recalling the first time they had seen their daughter ever since she was a baby, when they came to her house to the First World to explain to her that she was a fairy and that she was being offered a place to study at Alfea, the prestigious school of Solaria. Funny as it may seem, Primrose believed them as soon as she was told. Her older brother wasn’t as easy to convince though. Farah had to use her magic to prove to him that they were both telling the truth and that it wasn’t some silly joke. And it took even more convincing and long discussions on how Primrose would be taken care of, and that nothing bad would happen to her while at Alfea for him to let his young sister attend. It had been tiring, but they were glad to know their girl had someone who cared so deeply about her. Tony was an amazing brother to her, and, even though they couldn’t tell him so, both of them were incredibly grateful for that.

“Please, her face structure is all yours.” Farah scoffed, turning towards her husband, a loving look on her face. “She’s so kind, Saul. Too innocent. Too sweet. It pains me to know that she’s so distressed right now, and that it’s all our fault.” She added, with a gloomy expression on her face. “And now all of… this. A Burned One, appearing out of nowhere. I know you feel it… the shift. I just want her and the rest of the students to be safe, Saul. They know nothing but peace. None of them were supposed to go through this.”

Saul then pulled Farah into a tight embrace, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. “They won’t, Farah. It’s just one of them. She’s okay, and the students are too. Everything will be alright.”

They spent like that what it felt like hours, until Farah broke the silence again:

“Saul, what if she… hates us?” She said, speaking both of them biggest fear, her voice so thin it was almost inaudible.

“She won’t, Farah. She just needs some time, you’ll see.”

***

Rosie ran to the one place she knew she’d find comfort in: the greenhouse. No one was there at such a time in the night, so she just laid against the wall, letting all her tears fall down. She didn’t even understand what she was feeling, to be honest. She was angry, and frustrated, and felt so lost as well. Had her parents even known she was not their actual daughter? Would they have loved her as much if they had known? She scolded herself for thinking that, of course they would. But still, she knew her mind would keep on wondering there, for she would never know what her parents actually thought. She would never get to talk to them again. And that broke her heart, once again. She had loved her parents so much. They were the two kindest and strongest people she knew, and to have had them snatched from her life at such a young age was something she felt she would never recover from. She still had Tony at least. 

‘Tony’ she thought, instinctively grabbing her phone. The one person she needed to talk to the most right now. 

Rosie wasn’t sure her brother would pick up the phone, since it was very early in the morning back at her world, but she was not at all surprised when she heard him answer. 

“Hey kid, how are you?” He greeted her, mechanical noises in the background. ‘Typical Tony’, she thought. He had probably spent the whole night in his lab, one of his most recently discovered hobbies.

“Hey Tony,” she replied, voice still a little hoarse after crying, “what are you doing up so early? Have you slept?”

“Kid you just called me at 2 a.m., and your voice sounds as if you had been crying. You don’t get to pull the worried card right now, what’s going on? Do you need me to go there? Is everything alright?”

“Come here?” Rosie asked, full aware of the dangers outside the Barrier at this moment. It hadn’t been the best idea to call him after all. She should have known her brother would leave everything and everyone to go comfort her if she needed. “No, no Tony I’m alright. It’s just… some nonsense. I just needed to listen to your voice, that’s all.”

“Are you sure? Because I really can put on some other clothes and go there, I’d sure love to have some excuse to bother that Headmistress of yours.”

Rosie laughed at his brother. He loved to tease people, and Miss Dowling was, after all, someone very easily exasperated, and Tony liked to take advantage of that every time they saw each other. He once had her explaining to him for more than half an hour that no, the magic he had seen at the school wasn’t special effects and that they weren’t in some sort of reality show. Rosie would’ve loved to see how far Tony could go with that joke, but they both knew better than to anger the Headmistress. 

“No Tony, I really am fine, you don’t need to come…”

“Are you sure kid? You don’t seem that convinced.”

She was. She didn’t want to put her brother at risk, who she loved more than anyone. She just had such a… guilty feeling. When Miss Dowling and Professor Silva told her the truth she had felt mad, true, but also… happy? Was she really happy she had two parents who were alive, with whom she could actually try and have a relationship with? Of course she was. But she also felt so guilty. She had had her set of parents. Who she had loved with all of her heart. She feared replacing them. Not that she would ever do, no one would ever be able to replace her parents. Hell, she wasn’t even sure Dowling and Silva actually wanted a relationship with her. After all, they had kept it a secret for a whole three years of knowing her. Maybe they just didn’t want to be her parents at all. 

“I am Tony, you don’t need to worry. I’m just… confused. What do you do when you feel happy about something but you also feel guilty about feeling happy?”

“What makes you happy is way more important than feeling guilty, kid.” Tony explained in a soft voice. “The fact that you feel guilty about something that makes you happy only means that you're a kind, selfless person, Rosie. Don’t let it get to you. You deserve to feel happy.”

“But what if that meant hurting people you loved?”

“Who would you be hurting Rose?” He asked in a worried tone. 

“Mum and dad…” She cried into the phone. 

“Rosie they’re gone- I don’t care what you say kid, you're scaring the crap out of me, I’m going over.”

“No! No Tony, I’m fine I promise. It’s just, start of the year, my last year here… I just want to make them proud.” She lied. Her first time doing so to her brother. He hated every second of it.

“Kid,listen to me, if only you knew how much those two loved you… Never worry about that, do you hear me? Never. They have been proud of you their whole lives Rosie, as I am. Never doubt it. Hell, you could probably commit a first degree crime and they would still find a way of defending you.” He laughed. “Promise me you won’t commit any kind of murder tho.”

Rosie laughed. His brother always had the way of making her feel better. 

“I love you, Tony. Thank you.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to come?”

“I’m sure Tony, it’s late after all. I have the busiest morning tomorrow, I’ll be feeling better I promise. Thank you.”

“Okay kid.” He answered, more at ease now. “But I will call you tomorrow tho, is that clear?”

“Yeah, I’d like that… Now you promise me you’ll go to sleep right now instead of doing stuff in that lab of yours.”

“It’s the price of being a genius, kid. My mind is too active all the time.”

“Good night, Tony.” She laughed. 

“Good night, kid. Sleep well.”

Rosie hung up the phone, and brought her legs to her chest. She was feeling better than before, that’s true. But she really didn’t want to be alone. 

As if it were because of magic, she received a text right that instant. 

‘From: peter

everything ok??  
something feels off’

‘From: rose

can i come over??’

‘From: peter

ofc’

Rosie used some of the little strength she had left after crying, and started to walk her way to the Specialists’ wing. She was crossing the hallway that leads into the fairy dorms, when she saw a group of people coming her way. It was Terra, surrounded by her friends, and she looked frightened. 

“Terra?” Rosie asked, worriedly going her way, instantly brushing aside all of her problems. “What’s going on? Why are you guys up this late? Is everything alright?”

“Bloom… Bloom saw one of the… those things...?”

“There is a Burned One outside the school.” The red haired girl from before answered. “It tried to attack me while crossing the portal, but Miss Dowling arrived and sent us here.”

“Miss Dowling is still…?” Rosie started asking, confused. 

“Don’t worry Rosie, she’s okay. She said she would lock him up.” Terra said softly. “I think she and Professor Silva want to see the thing tomorrow morning.”

“Oh,” Rosie said, nodding, “but are you all okay? Did you get hurt?”

“We’re okay Rosie, that thing didn’t even get close to us. We were just going to our suite and get some rest.”

“Oh, yeah, sure go rest, you need it.” Rosie said, moving aside so the girls could continue their walk. “Text me if you need anything.”

“Sure, Rosie. Thank you.”

She made sure they all arrived in their suite safely, and then walked the rest of the way to Peter’s suit. He had his own room within his suit, which always turned out to be incredibly comfortable for both of them, since he didn’t have to share a room with any of the other guys.

“Hey guys,” she said, when Peter opened the door for her, “what are you doing?”

“Just playing some stupid game.” One of them complained, sending an angry look to the other guy sitting on the end of the couch .

Peter shared his room with three more people: James, Andrew and Collin. The  
three of them were cool, and Rosie got along with them fine.

“Dude you were the one who wanted to play this game!”

“Just because you made me choose between this one and another one that’s even worse!”

“Lets just go to my room, shall we?” Peter said, and Rosie extended her hand for him to grab, and he gently directed the way to his room. 

Closing the door behind her, she found herself not being able to move, all the emotions of the night suddenly building up on her again. She was so shocked, and confused, and angry, and sad and happy. And Peter sensed that. So he slowly approached her, and locked his eyes with hers. After nodding her head to express her consent, Peter started to carefully strip her out of her clothes. Her shoes, her shirt, delicately unbuttoning it with his fingers, soft on her skin; lastly, her trousers, until she was just on her underwear. 

The boy then took Rosie on his arms and laid her gently on his bed, himself resting besides her, his shirtless torso warming her.

“Do you want me to lend you some clothes to sleep?” He asked, softly caressing her body. 

“No.” She answered. “I want to feel your skin.”

Peter then hugged her tighter, her face resting on his collarbones. He started placing soft kisses on the top of her head. 

“What happened?” He asked, his voice barely a whisper. 

She took a deep breath of air, finally letting some of the pressure she had been feeling go. 

“They’re my parents, Peter. My real parents.”

“Who are?”

“Miss Dowling and Professor Silva.” She sobbed. “They’re my parents and they’ve known ever since I got here and they didn’t tell me.”

Rosie felt Peter’s arm tightening his embrace, to which she pressed her face into his neck.

“I’m sorry, Rose.” He said. “Have you figured how you’re feeling about that?”

“I don’t know.” She genuinely answered. “On one hand I’m… mad, but then I’m happy I guess, but that makes me feel guilty because of my parents.”

“I’m here Rose.” He said, with a serious look, cupping her face with one of his hands. “I mean it. Whatever you need… no matter when, I’m here. I just… hate to see you sad, you know? I can sort of… feel it myself. When you’re hurt. I don’t know why or how, I just… feel it.”

“I know, Peter. I feel it too. And I know that you’re here, always. I’m here as well. Even when I’m not between your arms I know that you’re there.”

“I’ll always be here.”

“I know.” She answered, looking at him in the eyes. They were so tender. Sometimes Rosie felt as if they held the whole universe. He always had the right answer, for everything. He had such a wise soul hidden behind his goofy and naive persona. And he didn’t even realise. Rosie always made sure to make him know how exceptional he was. 

“I love you, you know? I think I’ve had for sometime now.”

“I know,” he answered, looking lovingly into her eyes, “I love you too, Rose. I feel like I’ve always had.”

And like that, she fell asleep. With a smile on her face, against Peter’s bare chest. 

***

Rosie woke up in a tight, warm embrace. She could hear Peter’s soft snores above her. She thought about her encounter last night with Terra.

“I think she and Professor Silva want to see the thing tomorrow morning.” She’d said. Miss Dowling and Headmaster Silva were about to go and see that thing. 

Rosie let herself go from Peter’s embrace, the boy waking up due to the sudden chill he felt on his body.

“I’m sorry.” She said, pulling her pants up. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“That’s fine.” He said, his voice groggy. “Do you need me to help you get to your room? If Silva finds us I can make an excuse-

“It’s okay, Peter.” She interrupted him, looking at herself in the mirror to make sure her clothes were alright, and tying her hair up in a ponytail. “There’s just something I need to do, now.” 

“Do you want me to go with you?”

“No, I need to do this by myself.” She answered, closing the gap between the two so she could lay a peck on his lips. “You go back to sleep, I’ll text you when I come back. It’s nothing dangerous, I promise.”

“Okay, good luck.” He said. “I’ll be here.”

Rosie saw herself out of the room, walking as cautiously as she could because the rest of the boys had fallen asleep in the living room. 

She started walking her way towards the nearest exit. It was a cold day and she was hit by a chill breeze and light pouring when she got out the castle. She started to inspect her surroundings, as if she were looking for something. Away, in the middle of the field walking towards the forest, she saw two figures walking next to each other. 

She started jogging, her nose getting red because of the cold, until she approached them. 

“Good morning, Miss Dowling, Professor Silva,” she greeted them, both adults turning towards her with stunned looks on their faces. 

“What are you doing here Primrose?” Farah asked. 

“What are you doing coming out from the Specialist’s hall at this time in the morning?!” Saul asked, raising his voice a little, the Professor in talking.

“I want to go with you.” She answered, pointing towards the forest, and ignoring Silva’s question. “I want to see… that thing. The Burned One. Terra told me you have the thing locked up.”

“No.” Farah answered sternly. “You can’t come. Go back to the castle and stay there until the classes begin.” 

Both started walking towards the field again, Rosie frozen at her spot behind the,. But they should have known that Rosie, being her mother’s daughter, was every bit as stubborn as Farah.

“But I’ll be fine!” She said, catching up with them. “I’m going with you, what bad could happen to me?”

“Primrose I said no, and I’m not changing my mind. Go back to the school now unless you want a whole week worth of detention.”

“You heard the Headmistress, go back in. And to the Fairies’ hall this time.” He warned her. 

The pair started walking again, leaving the young, freezing girl behind. But she wasn’t having it. She ran again, until she was right in front of them, not letting them walk towards the forest. 

“Please,” she pleaded, “it’ll be okay, nothing can happen to me while you guys are here too. Plus you said the thing is locked up, and Terra told me Professor Harvey had made a potion to keep it asleep.” Knowing they were just about to give in, she used her last remaining weapon: the puppy eyes. Her lightly pouty lips, big eyes and seemingly naive facial expression had never failed her. 

Farah glanced towards Saul, knowing that it was already a lost battle from his side, there was no way on earth he was resisting that. Damn Saul and his soft self. 

“You will do everything I tell you. If something goes wrong, you will make yourself invisible and stay close to us, at all moments, am I making myself clear?”

“Yes.” Rosie answered with a shy smile on her face. “I promise.”

The adults proceeded with their walk once again, this time Rosie following them closely from behind. The three of them remained in a not so comfortable silence, all of them still quietly thinking about how things had gone last night. Rosie didn’t really know what to say, so she just limited herself to follow them shyly. 

Rosie could already see the stone wall where the Barrier was located, when the two adults started talking. 

“Must have brought back memories, seeing a Burned One again after so long.” Saul commented. 

“Too many.” The older woman answered, panting because of the long hike. “The Black Woods Massacre. Our excursion to Maravet Falls.” 

Rosie remained silent, eager to continue listening to their stories from long ago. 

“Feels like a lifetime ago.” Saul responded. 

“Didn’t you keep a kill count?” Farah asked him, amused. 

“Thirteen, personally.” He said, turning to see the woman looking at him with a smile on her face. “What? As in my sword in its flesh. Of course I had help. I could never take one down entirely on my own, but apparently you still can.”

They had arrived at the low stone wall, which indicated they were right about to cross the Barrier. 

“I got lucky.” She responded, clicking her tongue. “It didn’t see me coming.”

“How much Zanbaq did you give it?”

“Enough.” Farah said, crossing the soft embrace of the Barrier. “It should be out cold.”

The two of them jumped over the wall, and then turned around to see how the young girl was doing. Saul offered his hand to help her cross, which she gladly accepted. The man grabbed her hand, and then shot a worried look at her. 

“You’re freezing!” He said, holding her hand. 

“Oh, it’s okay, I’m not that col-

“Here,” he interrupted, taking his own jacket off, “wear this. It’ll keep you warm.”

“You don’t need to do this,” she said, reluctantly grabbing the jacket, “I’m fine like this.”

“Put it on, or else I’m sending you right back into the castle.” Saul said, with a stern look on his face. 

Rosie would have answered him back, if it weren’t for the fact that she felt touched somehow by the man showing such care. He turned to glance at Farah with a ‘can you believe this kid?’ look on his face, and he could’ve sworn she looked a bit teary eyed, but that could have been the cold as well. 

Once the girl had the jacket on, both adults turned to keep on walking, but Rosie was just frozen on her spot. 

“What’s wrong?” Farah asked, “Are you still col-”

“I’m sorry.” She said, her voice sounding a little shaky. Both of them turned towards her as suddenly as she had spoken. “For last night, I’m… I’m not usually like that, I don’t usually get mad or snap like that and I’m so sorry I did. I was just thinking about myself not even stopping for a second to think about what you must have felt and it was selfish and I’m… sorry.I think I just need some time to get used to it.”

“Don’t worry, Primrose.” Farah was quick to say, slowly approaching the girl, “It’s okay that you got mad… We should have been more honest with you early on.”

“No, it’s okay, I get it. I’m sure you had your reasons to do what you did and me getting all crazy and demanding answers like that… it was not nice, and I’m sorry.”

Saul was the first one to completely approach the girl, and started patting her on the arm. 

“You don’t need to worry, Primrose. It’s fine, we get it. Stop tormenting yourself about it.”

“Rosie.” She said, shyly. 

“What?” Saul asked, confused.

“You can just call me… Rosie.” She said, looking at them. “I don’t really like Primrose that much. It’s such an old lady name, I don’t know what my parents were thinking.”

“Well… Rosie, they knew you would grow up to be pretty as a flower, so it was only fitting to name you after one.” Saul responded with a kind smile, making the girl smile. 

Farah remained in her place, quietly listening to the sweet exchange between the two. She was wondering how Saul did that, he was such a natural. She had always wished she could be as soft and gentle with words as Saul was. She would be lying if she didn’t feel a bit jealous. She had been teaching the girl for years now, every day, yet they hadn’t even been close to having such a moment like the one Saul and their girl just had. 

“Oh, please.” The girl said, her cheeks getting as red as her nose, returning the smile to Saul. 

A loud screech coming from deep in the forest reminded the three of them that they were all there for a mission, not mindless chatting. 

“We should probably go, I don’t know how much longer the Zanbak will work.” 

“Wait,” Rosie said, noticing how dark the forest was getting on that part, “can I…?” She asked, looking at Farah. 

“Sure, go ahead.”

Rosie snapped her fingers, creating a light to hover over them. She instantly started feeling warmer. 

“Okay, let’s go.” Farah said, a proud look on her face. 

They resumed their walk in a comfortable silence, until they got to a barn that was there in the middle of the forest. 

“Is there where the thing is being kept…?”

“Yes.” Farah said, turning to look at her with a serious expression. “Remember what I told you: the second something goes wrong and you turn yourself invisible, clear?” 

“Yes, Miss Dowling I know. I will.”

Farah turned herself, and walked towards the barn, where she and Saul slowly started opening the large door, Rosie looking quietly from behind. 

Once they opened the door, both of them cautiously started walking towards the middle of the barn, where Rosie could see a large thing chained against a wood column. After her eyes got used to the dark, she saw it. The Burned One. That thing was at least twice as tall as any person she’d seen, and it looked as if its skin had been all burnt, without actually consuming it. It had no eyeballs, no hair, and Rosie could see some sort of glimmer down on his chest. 

“You stay back here, Primrose.” Farah warned her, sternly. Rosie just nodded, still too focused on the monster before her. 

“What do you expect to discover when you’re inside its mind?” Saul asked, barely a whisper. 

“Answers. I’ll sleep better knowing it’s a lone wolf.”

“And if it’s not? If there are more?”

Farah shot a look at him. She didn’t even want to think about that possibility. 

Rosie could hear Saul’s sigh, while the Headmistress started to slowly walk forward the thing; he was scared for her. She could also hear the deep and heavy breaths of the monster. She had a bad feeling about all of this. Miss Dowling kneeled before the thing, her face at the same height as its. 

“Just be careful, Farah.” Saul told her, seeing her hand dangerously approaching the monster, right next to the thing’s head.

The Headmistress closed her eyes, starting to use her magic to get into the Burned One’s mind. But then Rosie felt something, and she could tell Saul had felt it too. Not even realising what she was doing, Rosie ran towards Farah at the same time as Saul, both grabbing the Headmistress’s body and pulling her behind, seconds before the monster started snarling and trying to attack her. 

The three of them almost fell backwards because of the strength they’d used to bring the woman back, and were heavily panting. 

“Are you oka-” Rosie started to ask, but then the woman pulled her towards her and started checking her arm, where the monster had teared part of her jacket. Well, Saul’s jacket. 

“Rosie! Did it hurt you? Did it break your skin somewhere?” She freneticaly asked, looking for any sort of injury on the girl. 

“No, it didn’t touch me, I'm okay.” She answered, using the gentlest tone she could manage to hopefully ease the Headmistress. “I’m safe.” She assured her.

“Okay.” She said, letting go of her arm, working now on catching her breath. 

Saul gently pushed Rosie from behind, encouraging her to walk towards the door. Once outside, they all started their way back to the castle. 

“It appears the Zambaq had worn off-

“You didn't do as I told you.” Farah interrupted Saul, turning towards the girl, anger on her voice. “I told you to make yourself invisible but you didn't do that and you could've got hurt.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, I didn't even realise what I was doing until it was too late.” She answered, looking at the Headmistress in the eyes. “I just couldn't let that thing… hurt you.” 

“It's our job to protect you, Primrose. Not the other way around.” 

Rosie remained quiet, knowing that Miss Dowling was correct and that she had no right to fight her about that. 

They had kept half of the way back silent, nothing but the loud noises of nature surrounding them, that was until Rosie couldn't help but notice something. 

“Oh, look!” She excitedly said, running towards a small pond on their right. “Diphylleia Grayis!” She pointed towards some small, plain flowers on the side of the pond. Rosie was not surprised to see them there, given they were flowers that grew on moist, not well sun lighted places. 

“How do you know about them?” Farah asked, unable to hide her surprise. 

“We have them back where I live,” she explained, “we also call them ‘skeleton flowers’ because its petals turn translucent when it rains.” 

“They're very important, and rare, flowers here.” 

“Really? Why so?” Rosie asked, confused about the fact that she had not learnt about them at the school yet. 

“They're archaic fairy knowledge,” Farah said, “they're the only flowers that can create a potion called ‘Growing back life’”. 

“I don't know what that is.” 

“It's a potion to bring back souls that have been merged within nature.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi there! i had to divide this one on two parts because else it would have been too long! i hope you're enjoying the story! oh and btw i took a lot of liberties with the whole diphylleia grayi thing, they're never mentioned in fate whatsoever i just made that up to fit the story lol
> 
> also, this is my first time writing a fic so bare with me- how long do you think it should go before rosie starts feeling comfortable with both of them being her parents? i just can't imagine calling them mum and dad anytime soon, but maybe that's just me ahah. thank you for all the lovely comments on the last chapter!


	3. No strangers here, Part II

“So,” Stella said, approaching the girls’ table with a large piece of paper on her hand, Sky following her closely from behind, “we have a plan to get my ring back.”

“What’s this?” Musa asked, looking at the map in front of her. 

“It’s Alfea!” Terra said enthusiastically, “The little dotted line is the Barrier, and that’s Crag Creek. Wind Meadow!” She exclaimed, pointing towards somewhere on the map. “When I was a kid, I’d spend every-”

“Great story, Ter.” Stella interrupted her, a fake smile on her face. 

“No, it’s a really good story. Listen. So I used to go and practice my magic by trying to swirl leaves into this little fab cyclone thing…

Terra kept on talking and talking about her story, Bloom and Sky engaging in their own conversation, while Stella pretended not to be bothered by that and listen to Terra. 

“... and the ladybird wasn’t there, it was on my face. How funny is that?”

“Hilarious.” Stella replied, unamused. “Um, Sky? Where do you think they’re keeping it again?” She asked, caressing one of Sky’s arms.

“Uh, there’s only so many buildings outside the Barrier they can secure a creature like that.”

“Why don’t we ask Rosie?” Terra suddenly said. “She knows where the thing is.”

“Who’s Rosie?” One of the girls asked. 

“Oh,” Terra laughed, “I’m sorry. She’s this fourth year who has been my friend, well, actually she’s been like my sister ever since-”

“No way.” Stella said. “No one but us is supposed to know, we’re not telling her.”

“But she knows where the thing is!”

“How do you know?”

“I saw her this morning coming back from the forest with Dowling and Silva, who I knew were going to see the thing. She must have seen where they’re keeping it…”

“Wait, she went there with Silva?” Sky asked, shocked, knowing the professor was too strict to let something like that happen. “How?”

“I don’t know Sky, I haven’t had the chance to talk to her.”

“Well, that doesn’t matter, because we are not telling her.” Stella snapped at her. “Now, where do you think they’re keeping it?”

“Oh, the barn would be my bet.” 

***

Rosie’s morning had been boring. After arriving back at her suite, she took a shower and then changed for the day. 

“Where have you been?” Lily came running towards her, as soon as she got out of the shower, her red hair messy because she had just woken up. “I was up late last night waiting for you to arrive!”

“Oh, I’m sorry Lils, I was caught up with something.” She apologised, letting her towel drop to the floor. “Can you pass me that bra?”

“What things?” Her friend asked, grabbing a nude bralette and throwing it to Rosie. “Peter?” She inquired, a smirk on her lips.

“No… Oh, Lily.” She replied, sitting on the bed next to Lily. “There’s so much I need to tell you, I don’t even know where to begin…”

“Wouldn’t you like to change first?” Her friend asked, pointing out the fact that Rosie had no clothes whatsoever on her. 

“Oh, yeah, hold on.” Rosie threw a pair of comfortable jeans and a sweater, and then joined her friend on the bed. 

She wasn’t sure she could tell the truth to Lily. As a matter of fact, she didn’t know if it had been okay to tell Peter in the first place. She hadn’t asked Miss Dowling, but she doubted the woman would be very enthusiastic about the whole student body finding out. 

Anyway, Lily was Rosie’s best friend, so she would tell her one way or another. 

“So last night, coming back to the suite from Peter’s, I encountered these two girls talking.”

Rosie proceeded to tell her everything she had heard, and how her doubts about herself and her parents started raising. 

“And so I went to Miss Dowling’s office and started asking and… and they told me it was true.” She sighed. 

“So it’s true? They’re your parents?” Lily asked with a surprised expression. 

“Yes.” Rosie replied. She was shocked at how calm she had been able to tell the story. Turned out, once her emotions had calmed down a bit, and after her walk with both adults, she wasn’t so confused anymore. She even thought it was possible that one day, even though far from now, she might even get used to the idea of them being her parents. 

“And how are you feeling?” Lily asked, concerned for her friend. 

“You know, at first I was so mad. I was a total brat last night. But today, now that my head is a little bit clearer… it’s not as bad, you know? I think I might be ready to actually listen to them. To ask them… why.”

“You know I’m here for you, right?” Lily said, taking a piece of hair out of Rosie’s face and tucking it behind her ear. “If you need me.”

“I know Lils.” She said, hugging her. “I love you.”

“I love you more Rosie.”

The morning after that was pretty uneventful for the group of friends. After Marlene and Dorcas woke up, they had breakfast at the cafeteria and then headed towards classes with Professor Harvey. 

The five of them were the first students to arrive in the classroom, and Professor Harvey greeted them as they got in.

“Good morning, girls.” He said. “I hope all of you have had a nice summer. Oh Primrose, is it okay if I have a word with you?”

“Sure, Professor Harvey.” She said, following his way outside the classroom, towards the empty hall. 

“I just wanted you to know that… Farah and Saul, that is Headmistress Dowling and Professor Silva have told me about what happened.” He said, but Rosie wasn’t unfazed for that. The man was, after all, their best friend so the young girl could only assume he had always known the truth. “I can’t even begin to imagine what you’re feeling, but I want you to know that the greenhouse is always open if you need someone else to talk to, or just some reassuring company.” 

Rosie was touched by the amount of care Ben had over her. He had always been nothing but kind and supportive, although she couldn’t say they had ever spoken that much, but she was grateful for him.

“Thank you, Professor Harvey, really. It means a lot.”

“You can just call me Ben, outside school hours of course.” He said smiling. He then patted her shoulder with a warm smile, and headed towards the class. 

Maybe things would start to work out soon. 

***

“I spoke with my contacts in the other realms.” Saul said, following the Headmistress into her office. “No other sightings of Burned Ones.”

“So ours was just a fluke?” Farah sighed, part of the weight she had been carrying on her shoulders ever since Riven found the pastor’s corpse lifted. 

“Maybe, but it’s a dangerous fluke.” Saul replied. “The capitol’s prison is more secure than ours, and the queen would scan its memories if you asked.”

Farah frowned at him. After so many years of knowing the woman, Farah knew better than to involve her on this. Truth to be told, she didn’t like her that much. Every time she visited, Luna somehow found a way to get on her nerves. It was either because of her daughter losing control of her magic, or her being too bland on the students, or asking for too much resources for the school. Queen Luna never forgot to-purposely- mention Aster Dell whenever she felt Farah was demanding for much, or not doing as she wanted. Oh, how Farah hated being reminded of that. Of what she had done. She still remembers the pain when she saw all those bodies, burned because of her. She felt so dirty, so… tarnished. So evil. She wanted, no, she needed that feeling to go away. And so, not longer after they'd talked to Luna to use her magic and hide the destroyed town, and imprisoned Rosalind, she went to Primrose. The living proof that she had done at least one good thing. Even though she’d now never deserve her. 

It was late in the night, everyone was sleeping. She used her magic to sneak into the house, and then into the toddler’s room. Farah more than anything needed the reminder that she had made something as pure, as innocent, as sweet. Maybe, just for a second, that would make her feel less of a monster.

The little girl was peacefully sleeping on her bed, tugging a stuffed baby bear towards her chest. Farah kneeled down next to the bed, and stared at her. 

She was so precious. Her soft, blonde hair was covering part of her face, so Farah removed it, placing a soft kiss there. She then caressed her cheek, tears running down the woman’s face, crying because of the lives she had taken and the one life who would never be hers to treasure. 

“This is my school, Saul.” She replied, serious. 

“Yes, it’s a school and there’s already gossip. And it’s only a matter of time before the kids cross the Barrier to find it. Please, let’s do this right.” As always, Saul was correct. “Let me arrange with the queen’s army to transport it safely. I’ll talk today with them and leave first thing tomorrow.” 

***

Silva was making his way up to the training fields for his classes with the fairies after making the arrangements to go capture the Burned One first thing tomorrow, when Sky interrupted him. 

“Professor Silva, I’ve been looking for you.” He said, positioning himself in front of the older man. 

“Sky, if I remember correctly I asked you to help the first years with their training while I was out making arrangements so might I ask what made you disobey that order and come here when you should be there.” He said, pointing towards the training field. He had spoken to him in a harsher tone than he intended, but the conversation with the solarians had left him in a foul mood. 

“Why did you let another student go with you and Aunt Farah to see the Burned One this morning?”

“That,” he replied, poking a finger on his chest, “is not something you should be worrying about, Sky. And it’s Headmistress Dowling during school hours.” He turned to continue his walk towards the fields. 

“Who is she?” 

“She’s a trained and experienced fourth year who was prepared to fight the thing in case it was necessary, that’s why Miss Dowling let her come, Sky. And that’s where your questions end.” He said with a firm tone. 

“Well she looks an awful lot like that girl from the picture you keep on your nightstand to be nothing else but a student.” Sky replied, on a lower tone. 

Saul turned towards him, an appalled look on his face. From time to time, Howard would send pictures of Primrose to Saul and Farah, so they could at least see her grow up. Somewhere between every five months Howard would call them to tell them about Primrose, and how she was doing. Until the pictures and calls stopped. Rosie was just four years old when an awful accident took Howard and Maria’s lives, and since Tony, who was left as the little girl’s guardian, had no idea about who Saul and Farah were, they weren’t able to see Primrose anymore. Sure, Tony knew she was not her parent’s biological child, but neither he nor Maria knew who Farah and Saul were. Or the fact that they were from the Other World. As far as Tony knew, Rosie was the daughter of two humans who just didn’t want to have a kid. So they couldn’t just walk into the man’s house, tell him they were her real parents and take the girl. She was, after all, by all legal means Howard’s and Maria’s daughter and, after the accident, Tony’s responsibility. 

So Saul had treasured the last picture they had got from her, keeping it on one of the drawers of his nightstand. He should have known that Sky, being the curious, explorer kid he had been, would find the picture. 

“Does she know?” Sky questioned, Saul’s silence confirming his own assumptions about Rosie’s real parents. 

“She… she does.” Saul told him, still perplexed about the whole exchange. “She’s known since yesterday.”

“You know?” Sky added, looking at nowhere in particular, “I would’ve loved to have a big sister.” 

Even though he’d had Sam and Terra growing up, and that they were like siblings to him, he had always felt somehow alone. Sure, the pair had lost their mother, but they still had a father to cherish them. And while Farah and Saul had done their best making sure Sky felt loved and supported, he had always felt like he belonged to no one. It would have been nice to have had someone who felt the same way. 

“I’m sorry Sky.” Saul said, and the boy could tell his apology was genuine. 

“Can I talk to her?” Sky asked, looking at his dad in the eyes. “She might need someone who understands what she’s feeling.” 

Primrose reminded him of Sky in so many ways. They were both kind, mature and incredibly selfless people who didn’t think twice about helping those who needed it. Saul felt a hint of melancholy thinking about how close they could have been growing up, and how much they would’ve loved each other. Maybe it was not too late for that. 

“I think she would love that, Sky.”

***

Classes with Professor Silva were no joke. After two hours of intense training with the man, Rosie and Lily, the only two fairies that had decided to take the Specialist’s course, were laying on the floor, heavily panting. 

“Thank god this class is only once a week, I don’t think I could do this every day.” Lily commented, taking a sip of water. “Silva is mean.”

“And I can be even worse so don’t test me.” A harsh voice behind scared the two girls into standing up. 

“Primrose you are fast, you have technique and you could handle hand to hand combat, but you lack strength. Burned Ones aren’t defeated with just your hands and wit, they’re defeated with weapons. And if I were to put a sword in your hands right now its weight would probably bring you down.” He scolded her, using a stick to softly knock on Rosie’s arms. “You’re going to train those at the punching bags, every morning twenty minutes, is that clear?” 

“Yes Professor Silva.” She said, straightening her back. 

“Lily you, on the other hand, have the opposite problem. Yes, you’re strong, but you need to be faster and more flexible. Burned Ones have no weaknesses except perhaps its size. They’re disproportionately big and large which can lead them into being sloppy and that’s where you need to take advantage. You need to be more flexible. Next class you’ll fight against Primrose with a blindfold on your eyes, to train your reflexes.” 

“Yes, Mr. Silva.”

“But, you girls did well.” Saul softened at the scared expressions of the pair. “Surprisingly so for your first day. Primrose you could probably defeat most of the specialists here in a no weapon combat and Lily if I were to put a sword on your hands not many could stand a chance to win. So congratulations. See you girls next week, and don’t forget exercising Primrose. If you have any questions on how to do so, ask Peter or Sky, they’ll be more than able to help you.” He finally said, stepping down the stairs to go scold two first years who were fooling around the pond. 

“Aww, I told you he was nicer than he claims to be.” An amused voice surprised the two girls. 

“What are you talking about Peter? He almost kills us!” 

“Hello to you too Lily!”He smiled at her. “I see that Silva was hard on you, huh.”

“He made us fight against him so he could see, and I quote, ‘how quickly we’d become a bear’s meal!’ ” Rosie exclaimed, not being able to hold a laugh. 

“He can be tough, but he also is the best.” Peter replied, helping the girls get down from the platform. “And he was impressed, I can tell. You two will do great, you’ll see.” 

“Peter!” A voice from afar called. “We need you here!”

“Oh shoot.” Peter said, turning around, “James needs me I better you. See you girls at dinner?” 

“You bet!”

The two girls remained quiet, watching how the boy went towards James, who was not only Peter’s best friend, but Lily’s specialist as well. 

“I should better go,”Rosie said, “I need to go to the greenhouse, Terra said she needed help with something.” 

“Oh, I’ll walk with you.” Lily said, grabbing her bag, “I need to go that way too.”

“So…,” Rosie said, both friends walking besides each other, “what did you and James do this summer?” 

Lily and James had started dating at the end of their third year at Alfea, after years of both being crazy over the other yet none finding the courage to say something. Lily and Rosie had remained in touch through videocalls and text messages, but still Rosie wanted to know every single detail her friend was comfortable sharing. 

“I told you everything over the phone!” Lily complained. 

“I know but I want every single detail! My summer was too boring.”

“I’ve already told you every single detail!” Lily exclaimed. “Don’t you want to be the one doing the talking for once?” She added, looking at Rosie with a cautious expression. “We didn’t get the chance to finish our talk this morning.”

“What else could I possibly talk about?”

“I don’t know.” Lily sighed, “We just had a class with Silva, and everything seemed to be normal. How did you feel?”

“Normal, I think.” Rosie shrugged her shoulders. Between focusing on doing the exercises the Professor was giving them and trying not to pass out from exhaustion, the girl didn’t have that much time to analyze the situation. “Fine, I didn’t feel too uncomfortable. That’s good, right?”

“I guess so.” Lily replied. 

“I’m sort of… waiting for something else to happen, you know?” Rosie said, as they were turning towards the hall in which they had to part ways. “As if there’s something else that needs to be said. But actually that’s it. They’re my parents. The only thing left is me getting used to it I guess. And them, of course. We haven’t really talked that much. I don’t think I want to do so yet. I’d like to talk to Tony first.”

“That’s fine Rose, just… make sure you give yourself time, okay? The time that you need, not someone else’s.” Lily said in a concerned tone. 

“I will Lils, I promise.” Rosie reassured her. “I’ll go with Terra now, I’ll see you for dinner!”

The girl made the last corridors to the greenhouse, and then opened the door to find Terra sitting by herself, working on some tubes and oils. 

“Hey,” Rosie greeted her, taking a seat in front of her.

“Oh, hi Rosie.” Terra replied, making a beautiful yellow flower grow on a pot. “How did the classes with Silva go?”

“I think I left part of my back there after being thrown into the platform by him, but other than that I’m doing okay.” She joked. “It was fun. What are you doing by the way?”

“Oh,” Terra said, “I’m making Zanbaq.”

“Isn’t that the thing to calm the Burned One?” Rosie asked, concerned. “What do you need that for?”

Terra didn’t like lying to Rosie, but she decided to respect Stella’s wishes of wanting no one else to know about the ring. Plus, Terra wasn’t too sure that the girl wouldn’t run to tell Miss Dowling if she told her what they wanted to do, and she was right. Rosie was chill, sure, and she didn’t like being a tattler, but she was also mature and responsible. And knew how dangerous it would be for the girls to go by themselves to that thing. Terra failed to realise, though, that Rosie wouldn’t have gone tell Miss Dowling, but rather offered to go by herself to avoid getting the girls into danger and still making sure Stella got her ring back. 

“… It’s, It’s not for me.” She lied. “It’s for my dad, he needed help.” 

“Oh, okay.” Rosie relaxed, “So what do you need help with?”

The girls spent most of their afternoon growing flowers and extracting their oil, which they would then heat up with other ingredients until it formed the unguent they were looking for. Sure, Rosie was no earth fairy, but being in her fourth year she had already learnt how to master all of the elements. Her flowers weren’t as big and colourful as Terra’s but they managed. Also, she used her magic to make sure a warm and summerly ray of light kept the flowers content. 

They had already finished cleaning up their stuff and were about to head into their rooms to prepare for dinner, when three adults entered the greenhouse. 

“Do you want us to bring anything?” Farah asked, walking between Ben and Saul. 

“Only the beverages you want to drink, you know there’s no alcoh- Oh, hi girls!” Ben interrupted himself as he saw the two fairies in front of him. “What are you doing here?”

“We were just preparing the Zam-

“Oh, I had totally forgot!” Terra exclaimed. “We have this thing tonight! Oh I’m so excited!”

“What thing?” Rosie asked, confused.

“Well, as you know I grew up here with my dad and Sam and Sky and them,” she explained, pointing towards Farah and Saul, “and so we have this tradition of having dinner together at our cottage the first day of classes to celebrate!”

“That’s nice.” Rosie smiled. 

“Oh my god Rosie you should totally come!” Terra said happily, proud of having such a great idea. 

“No, thank you so much Terra but I don’t think it would be a great idea…” Rosie was quick to say, not sure about how comfortable she’d feel having to spend a whole dinner with Farah and Saul. “This seems like a thing between you guys it’s oka-

“Please Rosie!” Terra looked at her with pleading eyes. “Sky and Sam have already got to bring a friend of theirs and I’ve never had the chance of bringing any friend.”

“I’m really so touched Terra but still I’m not sure-

“Pretty please it’d make me so happy.” She said, a pout on her face. “You’re the first friend of mine that isn’t Sam or Sky and I really want you to come. Please.”

Rosie glanced at the three adults, as if she were asking for some sort of help, but they remained silent. 

“Okay,” she finally breathed out, knowing that the earth fairy would not stop until she accepted. “I’d love to go, Terra. I’d have to change tho, these are the clothes I trained on.”

“Yay!” She screamed, “I’ll have to go now to help my dad cook, but you go change, I’ll have Sky pick you up in around an hour, he’ll walk you to the cottage. Gosh! I’m so excited. And happy, aren’t you happy dad?”

***

Rosie couldn’t decide what to wear for the night. She had already taken a shower and used her magic to blow her hair dry, since none of her friends were at the suite with her because they were having dinner at the cafeteria. She knew it would be cold during the walk to the cottage, but she knew it would probably be warm as a summer day once they were inside. She finally settled for a pair of jeans and a blouse with the prettiest daisies pattern. 

Rosie grabbed her phone and threw herself onto the couch, waiting for Sky to come get her. 

‘From: primrose collins

hey tony what are you doing?’

She got his reply just a second later. 

‘From: tony

hey kid.

work. kinda bored.

u?’

Rosie laughed to herself. Tony loved working, unless it was because someone had told him to do so. He could pretty much do whatever he wanted, being the owner of the company, but still from time to time he had to sit down and do some paperwork. 

“From: primrose collins

bored too. waiting to go have dinner’

“From: tony

wouldnt want to be u. cafeteria food sucks’

Rosie was about to text his brother back, when someone knocked at the door. 

‘From: primrose collins

hey i need to go. talk to you tomorrow’

Rosie grabbed her coat and went to the door. She opened to find Sky, handsomely dressed waiting for her. 

“Hi,” she said, “you must be Sky, right?” 

“Yes, I’m Sky.” He said with a smile. “Terra told me you needed someone to escort you.”

“Oh, yeah, I don’t really know where their house is, I’ve never been there.” She replied, closing the door behind her. “I’m Rosie, by the way.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Rosie.”

“Likewise, Sky.”

They walked in silence until they were out of the school, where Sky started to lead her through a seemingly hidden path next to the river. The sun had already set behind the mountains, and the sky was slowly turning dark.

“Is their house outside the Barrier?” Rosie asked, having no idea where said cottage was. 

“No, it’s within, don’t worry.” Sky answered. 

“Oh, that’s nice. I had no idea she’d lived in a cottage, I’ve always assumed she’d lived inside the castle.”

“I think Rose, Terra’s mum, was the one who suggested living there.” Sky commented. “You know, somewhere that wasn’t the castle but close enough Professor Harvey could be there within fifteen minutes.”

“That makes sense.” She said. “I would have loved to grow up somewhere like here, with so much space. I was born in the city and lived there my whole life. You grew up here as well, right? I think I remember Terra saying Silva was your… dad.” For some reason, she felt weird saying that. 

“Yeah. Well, not my dad, dad tho.” Sky explained. “Adoptive father. Both my parents died when I was very young, so Silva and Dowling took care of me.”

“Oh, yeah, Terra mentioned that. I’m sorry, that sucks.” She sighed. “Not that Silva and Dowling took you!” She was quick to correct herself. “I mean, about your parents. It sucks to lose them so young.”

“Yeah, it does, but I don’t really remember them that much. And Silva and Dowling have always been great to me, so.”

“That’s nice.” She said. “That you had someone to care for you like that. My brother took care of me.” She added, feeling like she had to open up a bit to the boy after he did with her. 

“That’s cool.” He said. “Sorry about your parents tho.”

“It’s fine.” She replied. “As you said, I don’t remember that much of them after all.”

Rosie immediately felt comfortable talking to Sky. He was nice, and polite. Miss Dowling and Professor Silva sure had done a good job with him. He was such a nice boy. Rosie was glad someone had cared so much for him after what happened to his parents, he deserved it. 

They continued their walk in silence, yet Rosie could sense Sky wanted to tell her something and he was debating on whether to do so or not. She wouldn’t push him tho, it was his choice. Sky then pointed towards a small, picturesque bridge that crossed the river.

“We have to go through there.” He explained. “After that it’s just a five minute walk until the cottage.”

“This is such a nice spot.” Rosie said, standing against the bridge’s wooden railing, while looking at the way the moon and stars reflected on the surface of the water. “It’s so pretty to actually be able to see stars, there’s so much light where I live I never get to do such a thing as stargazing.”

“Yeah, they’re really nice…” He sighed. “Rosie I feel like I need to tell you that I… know. About Silva and Dowling, and you being their… you know.”

“Yeah, I figured.” She replied, still looking at the stars. “I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable.”

“No! No not at all, I’m just telling you so you know you can talk to me. Whenever you want.”

“That’s really sweet of you Sky, thank you.” She said, turning towards the guy. “You can talk to me if you need to as well. I’m a good listener.” 

“Well, to be Terra’s best friend, I’d say you need to be one.” He teased, knowing how much Terra liked to talk. 

“Oh, she’s not that bad!” She exclaimed. “My brother Tony is way worse. It’s like he never runs out of things to talk about. Mostly himself.” She laughed.

“He talks more than Terra?” Sky asked, surprised. 

“Yeah, a lot more. He likes teasing people so much. Actually the first time we came here to see what the school looked like and all he spent, easily thirty minutes, talking about how he thought all the magic Dowling had shown him was just some sort of special effects. There was basically steam coming out from her nose at the end.” Rosie said, both of them bursting into laughter. “She looked so mad, I genuinely thought she was going to jinx him or something. I think he felt it too because he stopped messing with her.” 

“I understand your brother, it’s so easy to make Farah mad. She’s such an order and control freak.” Sky said, lovingly. “As a kid I remember I used to change the way her books at her office were organised, just to mess with her.” He said laughing. “She’d never get angry tho. Well, at least not in front of me. She would just take a deep breath of air and put them back where they belonged.” 

They both stayed quiet, next to each other, silently observing the sky. Rosie even got to see a shooting star. She found out she liked listening to stories about Farah and Saul. Maybe some day she’d ask Sky for more. 

“This is nice.” He eventually said. 

“Yeah, it is. You’re nice, Sky. I like you.”

“You’re pretty cool yourself too, Rosie.” He said, straightening his back and moving away from the railing. “We better get going tho, I bet they’re waiting for us.” 

Rosie followed Sky for a short walk, until they arrived at the cottage. It was a small house, with its white wooden walls deteriorated because of time.

Sky made a gesture for Rosie to follow him, and so they went into the house through the main door. She was nervous about having to spend a whole evening there, but at least Terra, Sam and Sky were there as well.

“Hey! You guys finally arrived!” Terra exclaimed, walking towards them so she could take their coats. "I love your shirt Rosie, it looks so pretty on you!" 

"Oh, thanks Ter. You look amazing as well." And she was correct. Terra was wearing a blue, velvet dress that fitted her nicely and complimented her green eyes beautifully.

She led them through the living room, up to the kitchen to their left, where Professor Harvey seemed to be cooking something, while Miss Dowling and Professor Silva were sitting at the table, in charge of the drinks.

“Oh, yeah, sorry for that.” Sky replied, taking a seat on the dinner table. “Rosie wanted to look at the stars because apparently there’s none where she lives.”

“No, there are stars where I live.” She explained. “You just can’t see them. You can see an awful ton of planes tho. Hello." She added, looking at the two adults sitting on the table. They gretted her back with small smiles and a nod in the head.

Terra made a gesture for her to sit between her and Sam, and right in front of Miss Dowling and Silva. 

“I hope you like pasta, Primrose! I’m making my special recipe.” Ben said, turning around to see their guests. He was wearing a flowery apron and had a wooden spoon full of sauce on his hand. 

“Oh, yes I love pasta, it’s one of my favourite meals.” She said. 

“Is it really?” Terra asked her. “I didn’t know that. There’s a ton of things I don’t know about you actually.” That realisation put a confused look on her face. 

“That’s because you do all the talking Terra.” Sam grinned. 

“Hey! It’s because Rosie is super shy not because I talk too much.”

“I’m not that shy,” Rosie said, “I just don’t talk too much. I prefer to listen to people.”

“See?” Terra said, sticking her tongue out to his brother. “Although it’s true Rosie you barely ever tell me something about yourself. Like... deep stuff.”

“Deep stuff?” Rosie said, confused at what her friend wanted from her. “What do you mean?”

“Like… like for example, I don’t know what your favourite colour is. What is your favourite colour?” Terra asked with a serious tone. 

“Ah you’ve stepped over the line.” Rosie joked. 

“Come on!”

“Periwinkle.” She said. 

“That’s nice, mine’s-

“Green! We know.” Sam and Sky said in unison, to which Rosie laughed. 

“Ha ha…” Terra fake laughed. “Now… favourite Disney film? That tells you a lot about one person.”

“The Little Mermaid.” She said, not hesitating even one second. 

“Woah, that was fast.” Terra laughed. “Did you know I was going to ask you that?”

“No, I just like that movie.” Rosie shrugged her shoulders. “It was my mum's favourite movie as well. We would sit on the couch and sing to all of the songs together." She said, her eyes filled with fondness. She noticed that she had let herself carry away, so she quickly added: "I used to love Finding Nemo as well. Oh, and Brother Bear! I named my first puppy Koda because of it."

“Dad, wasn’t that my favourite film growing up as well?” Sky asked, turning towards the man on his left.

“Huh… maybe?” Saul said, looking clueless. “I can’t really remember.” 

Rosie looked at the two adults in front of her, amused. They seemed like two different people from the strict Headmistress and harsh Professor when they were relaxed, detached from school obligations. 

“No no,” Farah said, after taking a sip of whatever she was drinking, “it was that one with the superheroes on red suits and stuff.”

“Oh, The Incredibles.” Rosie said, looking at Farah. 

“Yes,” the woman said, “That one. I remember you wanted to be like the little blonde kid and so you’d get into my office running like crazy asking me if I’d seen how fast you were.”

Everyone at the table laughed at the story, imagining little Sky running like that while making a mess in Downling's office. 

“Mine was-

“Tinkerbell.” Sam and Sky said in unison, again. 

“Stop! Doing! That!” Terra laughed, jokingly hitting him on his arms.

***

Farah was nervous about the dinner. She could tell Primrose really didn’t want to go, but Terra had pushed her so much, the poor girl had no other choice but to say she’d do so. She feared that dinner would drive her even further away. How mistaken she’d been. 

They all seemed to have had a great time. Sure, Primrose had looked uncomfortable from time to time, especially when Terra asked her about her childhood. But other than that, she had been in such a good mood. 

Farah couldn’t believe Saul and she had created such a bright thing. Rosie was kind, respectful, smart, funny- surprisingly so. More than anything Farah wanted to be a mother to her, except she didn’t know how to. If there’s something she learnt from that dinner is that they barely knew the girl. What she liked, her hobbies, her interests. And she wasn’t sure Primrose was ready to share all of that with them. 

The dinner ended relatively quickly, since they all had early mornings the next day, and since the Harveys were staying at their house for the night, Farah, Saul, Sky and Rosie started the walk towards the castle. 

“That was so good!” Sky exclaimed, once they were under the bright sky. “How are we supposed to go and eat Doris’ food back at the cafeteria after this?”

“Hey!” Rosie complained. “Don’t say that about Doris, her food is amazing!”

“No it’s not- Why are you defending her?”

“Because she’s nice and she gives me chocolate pudding in the mornings!”

“That’s not fair! She’s never given me pudding for breakfast! Why does she give you pudding?”

“Because I actually wake up early....

Farah and Saul watched amused at the exchange between the two, while walking several steps behind from them. Their bond was natural. Farah, who understood Sky as the palm of her hand, knew that it took a long time for the boy to trust in people. Yet he seemed to immediately feel comfortable with Rosie. What beautiful family they've made. How unfair it seemed. That they didn’t get to meet each other earlier. That it had taken so long for Sky to get the big sister he had always asked Farah and Saul for. 

Saul too spent a lot of time thinking about it. On how he wanted to meet the girl, talk to her. She had so much of Farah in her, he’d seen it on the field that afternoon. She had Farah’s determination. No matter how many times she had fallen onto the floor, she had got up again and tried more and more. But how to approach someone you didn’t know wanted to be approached in the first place?

“You ask them.” Farah replied. Once again, Saul had been thinking too loud. He grabbed Farah’s hand and squeezed it hard, laughing out loud at how the younger ones in front of them were racing each other to see who could make it faster to the school. 

Seeing the pair playing in front of her, hands intertwined with each other, Farah and Saul let themselves think- even for just a blissful little moment, that they were a family. 

***

“What’s going on?” Rosie asked, seeing a bunch of students gather up in the courtyard. 

“It’s Silva!” A boy she didn’t know explained. “He was injured by a Burned One! They’re taking him to the greenhouse to see if Harvey can save him.”

Rosie’s heart sank into her chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's a new chapter! How did you like it? Do you think they should have perhaps talked more during dinner? I didn't know what else to put that wouldn't make it too uncomfortable so i didn't know what to write. Everything happens so quicly in Fate, and I feel like Rosie needs more time than that. 
> 
> And how do you feel about dinner nights? Do the Harveys have the Gilmore Friday Night Dinners or nah?
> 
> Also, sorry if there are spelling or grammar mistakes- English is kicking my butt! I spend 50% of time writing just searching for words to see if I've written them correctly lol. So please do point out any mistake you encounter, I'm happy to correct them. Also, I'm working on leraning more about conectors and stuff to hopefully make the writing less stiff and easier to 
> 
> btw thank you SO much for all the nice comments on the other chapters they mean so much to me i love your input really
> 
> Until next chapter!! <3


	4. No strangers here, Part III

“How did… you… do that?” Sky asked, heavily panting. 

They had raced each other to see who got to school first, and Rosie spectacularly won. Well, not as spectacularly as she’d like, actually. Sky was faster than she thought, and so she had to push herself a little bit harder in order to win him. 

“I told you,” she said, catching her breath as well, “I go running every morning. I’ve got practice.”

“Still I can’t believe you won me.”

“And with heels.” She stated, pointing to the shoes on her hands.

“That doesn’t count, you weren’t even wearing them!”

“Well I never said ‘in’ heels, I said ‘with’ heels, so it was perfectly valid.”

“That’s still not fair!...

The two kids were fighting when Farah and Saul finally catched up with them, in front of the Specialists’ Hall door. 

Sky kissed them goodnight both, and jokingly pulled a strand of Rosie’s hair, before he disappeared between the castle doors. 

“So…” Rosie said, turning to look at the older pair. “That was nice. They’re all amazing.”

“Yes, it was a lovely evening.” Farah replied, staring at her.

“I really like Sky.” Rosie admitted. “He’s amazing.”

“Yes, well, we figured you’d like each other.” Saul said, shrugging his shoulders. “You two really seemed to hit it off.”

“Yeah… I just wished I would have met him earlier.” She admitted.

The girl immediately looked down at her feet, clearly embarrassed by what she had just said. 

“We are sorry, Primrose.” Farah replied, genuine regret in her voice. 

Rosie looked up, staring at the eyes of both of them, trying to figure out what was going through their heads. It was rather pitiful, to see two people looking so yearning for something that had never been theirs in the first place. It made Rosie wonder about what had happened before they left her.

“You don’t need to apologise,” Rosie reassured them, “I’m not mad. I mean I was before, but not now. I hope you do know that. I’m not mad, or sad about… this.” She made a gesture with her hands. “I just need some time. I need to talk to Tony first if that’s okay.”

“Primrose, we would never force you to have any kind of approach.” Farah said with concern in her eyes. “Know that whatever you want to do, it’s completely up to you. We understand.” 

Rosie knew they meant that, but she also knew how much they desired more.

“I think I’d love to have more dinners.” She said, finally letting them know what was going on in her mind for once. “And maybe I could ask you guys, for a change what your favourite colour and Disney movie are.” Rosie added with a sweet smile. 

“That sounds lovely, Rosie.” Farah agreed, trying hard not to let her emotions get the best of her at that moment. The young girl wished the Headmistress wouldn’t try to hide her emotions so much. She could tell she was, deep down, a loving and caring person, yet on the outside she rarely showed anything else but strength and coldness. Rosie wondered what had made her build up such walls. “Since you have the afternoon free tomorrow, I can arrange for you to go back home for a couple of hours, if talking to your brother is what you need.” 

“Oh, really?” Rosie asked, surprised. “Yeah, that’d actually be amazing!” She had wanted to talk to Tony ever since she found out, but didn’t manage to do so over the phone. He deserved more than that. “Thank you.” 

“I’ll meet you tomorrow after lunch at my office, I’ll walk you towards the portal.” 

“Sure, I’ll be there.” She replied, enthusiastically. “I guess I should go to bed now.”

“You sure do, you have a lot of training to do tomorrow morning, remember?” Saul told her in a strict tone. 

“Yeah, I better go now. Good night.” After giving them a smile, she headed towards the castle. That was until a strong grip stopped her. She turned to see the specialist grabbing her arm. 

“I meant your room in the fairies hall Primrose!” He exclaimed, angry but softly pushing her towards the other entrance. 

“That was where I was going!” She lied. 

Both of them watched the girl disappear inside the castle, and then started to walk towards their own room. 

“Really, does she think I was born yesterday? ‘That was where I was going’” He mocked. “As if! We invented the not sleeping at our rooms thing. You know Farah, this is not the first time she spends the night at that guy’s room.” 

“ ‘That guy’ being Peter, Saul, you like him. You’ve always told me he’s your favourite student.” Farah said, trying to put some sense into her husband’s head. 

“I don’t have ‘favourites’, he’s just… very good. Not because he’s great that means I’ll allow him to break the rules.” He exclaimed. 

“Is it really because he’s breaking the rules or is it because it’s Primrose?” She inquired. 

“Come on Farah, you can’t tell me it doesn’t bother you.” He said, gloomily looking at her.

“Saul, Primrose is grown and she can handle herself. And, we really don’t have any right to assume what’s going on.” She said, as they were arriving at their door. They had a small apartment within the castle, where they had lived with Sky. “Come on cranky man, let’s get you to bed. You have an early morning tomorrow.” 

***

“So, how was it?”

“It was lovely,” Rosie replied, closing Peter’s bedroom door behind her, “the food was amazing and Terra, Sam and Sky are great as well. It was fun.” She added, walking towards Peter who was sitting on the edge of his bed. 

“That’s nice.” He said, grabbing Rosie’s back while resting his head on her torso. “Today was tiring, and tomorrow Silva needs us to train the rest of the specialists, he’s going on a mission or something.”

“Sorry it was a bad day.” She said, cupping his face so she could give him a kiss. 

“Well, it’s better now.” He replied, standing up, deepening the kiss. He gently grabbed Rosie by her back, turning her to softly place her on the mattress. 

Rosie grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him even closer. She had missed him so much over the summer. She knew she had loved him for a while now, ever since they became friends, but she felt like she was falling in love with him. And that scared her. He was her specialist. What if, by a mistake of hers, he ended up being hurt? 

“I’m not going anywhere, Rose.” He said, as if he had read her mind. “We’re a team, remember?” 

“I know.” She said, pulling him towards her, into a hug. “We’ll always be a team.” 

Peter smiled into her head, breathing her flowery scent. He then started to caress her body, every curve, each part of her silhouette, all too known for him already. 

“Guess what.” He broke the silence, after some minutes. “I finally got the new Mario Kart on my Nintendo Switch.” 

“Shut up!” Rosie exclaimed, excited. “Really?”

“Yup.” He said, extending his arms towards his nightstand and grabbing a little red box. “Haven’t played it yet. Wanna try it?”

“Oh you bet I do!” 

They stayed for a long time, until they both fell asleep on the bed. They slept throughout the night in each other's arms, until Rosie’s loud alarm clock woke them up, far too early for their liking. 

“I’m so sorry.” Rosie said, quickly turning it off. “I forgot I had that. I need to go train now.” 

“I’ll go with you.” Peter said, getting up by her side.

“You don’t need to do that, you can sleep if you want.”

“No, it’s okay, I’ll help you train. I could do some training myself too.” He replied, brushing a strand of hair off her face. She gave him a peck on the lips, and then got out of bed. 

“I need to go to my room and take a shower, and change clothes before.”

“You can take a shower here if you’d like,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, “there’s still some of the clothes you left here last year, you can use those.”

“Oh, yeah right. Okay, I’ll shower here then.”

“Great, let me set the bathroom for you.” Peter disappeared on a door by his left, and by the moment he came back, Rosie could see steam already coming out from the bathroom. 

“That’s it.” He said. “There’s shampoo and conditioner on the cabinet and clean towers next to the sink.”

Rosie got into the bathroom, and got all of her clothes off, but before getting into the shower, she poked her head out the door.

“Care to join?”

Rosie and Peter, both dressed in their training clothes, were going through the school’s door, when they ran into a team of specialists getting their jeeps ready. 

“What’s going on?” Rosie asked, turning towards her friend.

“Oh, Silva will be out for the day,” he explained, “he’s taking the Solarian army to move the Burned One to the royal castle. Silva’s asked me to train the Specialists today.” The girl opened her eyes at the statement, starting to feel at unease. She wouldn’t say it aloud, but she was scared for Saul. She’d seen how dangerous those things were. 

“Wow…” Rosie said, focusing on her friend. “Peter that’s big.”

“Yeah… well, he asked James and I, but still.”

“That means he must trust you a lot.”

“I do.” A voice from behind surprised them. “Peter, you’re the best student I’ve had in years. I wouldn’t have thought of anyone else.”

“I’m very flattered that you thought of me, Professor Silva, I promise I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.” He replied, patting the boy on the arms. “What are you two doing so early?”

“I’m going to train these.” She said, lifting her arms. “As you told me.” 

“And I’m… helping her.” Peter said, shyly. 

“Peter, she needs to train upper arm strength, so make sure she does so, okay?” He said, already turning to get into one of the jeeps. “See you later.”

Rosie watched him walk away, a heavy feeling on her heart she didn’t like. She impulsively ran towards him, and grabbed him by the shoulder to get his attention. 

“Just.. don’t get hurt, okay?” She said. 

Saul looked at her with fondness, letting his guard down for a little.

“It’ll be okay, Rosie. The thing is dosed up on Zanbaq, and we’re just moving it.” After patting her head, he turned around to get into one of the ships and went towards the forest. 

“Let’s go train?”

“Sure, let’s go.” Peter said. “He’ll be okay, Rosie. He’s the strongest and smartest man I know, and he has got a whole battalion with him.”

“I know.” Rosie said. “I just felt like I needed him to know I cared.” 

After a brief walk, they got besides the pond, where a long line of punching bags was waiting for them.

“Okay,” Peter said, taking his bag off and opening, to find a small pair of gloves, “you’re going to put these on so you won’t get your knuckles hurt.” He handed them to her. 

Rosie quickly put the gloves on, and then stared at him. He then smiled at her and placed a kiss on her forehead. 

“You just look so cute with those on.” He laughed, to which Rosie frowned. He then gently placed her in front of the punching bag, and grabbed her by her arms from behind. “So, this is how you’re going to punch it. First, and most important, your fingers have to be tightly closed at all times or else you can get hurt. And every time you punch the thing, your arms have to kick it this way,” he showed her how to by slowly moving one of her arms, “okay?”

“Yes.” She said, turning her head towards him, his eyes fondly looking at her. She so desperately wanted Peter to know how much he meant to her. No matter how many times she’d told him so, it didn’t feel like enough. He was always so gentle, so supportive, so caring of her. He always made her feel like she could do everything, for he was her number one supporter, always. She tried to say all of that with a soft smile. 

“Okay, you’re all set.” He said, letting go of her. “I’ll be training on the platform behind, yell if you need anything.”

But Rosie didn’t hear that, since she was already working on hitting the bag. She wanted to get strong, let Silva make a fighter out of her. Who knew how many more dangers were out there, and there was no way she was letting something happen to Peter. No, she had to be able to protect him as well. They were a team. 

***

Farah was gazing through her office window, the jeeps getting out of sight between the lush forest. Something felt off about that trip. She wanted to go with him, but she had too much paperwork left to do to afford a whole day not getting any of that done. Saul had tried to reassure her, saying they were only moving the Burned One, not fighting it, take it to the Solarian prison, and then be back by the end of the day. He was right, Farah forced herself to believe, nothing could wrong. 

While lost on her thoughts, she saw two figures walking in the field, towards the fighting equipment by the pond. One of them being a tall, strong and lean person, followed by a slightly shorter, but certainly more petite person from the back. After a couple of seconds, he recognised them as Rosie and Peter. She stayed by the window, drinking her cup of tea, just observing them train. They reminded her so much of Saul and herself. 

They had always been friends, ever since they met during their first year at Alfea, but they had become inseparable after Rosalind made them each other’s specialist and fairy. They'd train, day and night, on those same fields. Saul would teach her how to fight, while Farah would teach him everything he needed to know about how her magic worked. When to close his eyes if she needed to use her light, or when to bend, in case she needed to use her fire. They could almost predict each other’s moves. Rosalind had trained them to be, after all, the perfect soldiers. 

Except they weren’t perfect. They had one, rather big, defect: they’d fallen in love. With each other, if it weren’t already bad enough. And that had made her mentor furious. Rosalind didn’t want soldiers who would risk their own lives to save each other, she wanted soldiers who were willing to risk others’ lives for what she considered to be the greater good. Farah and Saul were never comfortable with that idea. They would bravely give their own lives if that meant saving other people, but they would never risk other people’s lives. When Aster Dell happened, Farah finally saw how far Rosalind would go to get what she wanted. That’s when she knew she’d made the right choice by keeping Primrose a secret from her. She would have used the little girl. Someone to train from the very first moment she could access her magic. The perfect soldier. Farah knew Primrose had to be powerful, she was her daughter after all, but she never knew how incredibly so she would be. The girl had no idea how far her powers could extend, her naturally gentle and calmed persona always unknowingly toning them down, and Farah had always tried to keep it that way. She had seen what too much power caused people to do. It wasn’t Rosie who she didn’t trust, but rather what people would do to exploit that power. Rosalind. Sixteen years later, she was still as scared of her. 

She promised herself she would never do that to her students. She would never turn them into soldiers. She would be strong, and fierce, but never as cruel as Rosalind was. She would never send them to fight the battles that kids weren’t supposed to be fighting in the first place, if she could avoid doing so. She would protect them, for as long as she lived and even longer if she could. But at that moment she felt as if she were failing at doing so. A single Burned One scaring her more than she would like to admit. She so wanted to believe it was just one. 

She continued to watch the students from the window, the field getting more crowded as the morning went through. Her tea started to get cold, indicating she had spent too much time on her thoughts. With a final glance towards the window, she made a promise, to protect her students from any threats. From Rosalind. 

She then sat behind her desk, carefully reading and signing each piece of paper. There’s no such thing as paying too much attention to work, she thought. Only by paying too much attention could she make sure everything was in order. 

Farah had spent what it felt like just a couple of hours working, when someone knocked at her door. 

“Come in.” She said, rubbing her temple with her fingers. She could use a break. 

She lifted her head to see Primrose walking into the office. Shoot, she forgot she had told her she would take her to the portal. She glanced at the, significantly smaller than before, pile of paper on her desk. 

“Oh, good morning Primrose, I’ll be right with you.” She said, taking the next sheet of paper and placing it in front of her. “I need to finish these, it won’t take that long, you’re welcome to wait in here if you’d like.” 

“Okay.” Rosie said, taking a seat on the couch. She was wearing a blue, flowery skirt that reached her ankles and a plain white t-shirt. Her hair was up on a ponytail, loose blond curls falling right above her shoulders. She noticed Saul was right, Rosie was the spitting image of Farah when she was younger. She was tall, and slender, but Farah didn’t feel they shared that much personality wise. Rosie was way too soft and relaxed. She reminded her of Saul, before the war of course. 

Farah returned to pay attention to the paperwork in front of her, while Rosie grabbed a book from the table in front of her to read. It was about archaic fairy potions, and how to properly brew and use each. She quickly got bored, and stood up to play with the globe of the Other World. She too spent a few minutes with that, when she got up again and started pacing through the office, checking the numerous books in the library. 

Farah would have been lying if she said she wasn’t getting annoyed by the girl’s incessant movement, but she put up with it because Rosie had come to her office expecting to leave right away, yet because of Farah she had to stay there. Didn’t kids have phones these days, to trick themselves into not being bored? 

It was when Rosie got up again, to go glance through the window, when Farah involuntarily said: “Would you like to sit down for a cup of tea?” 

Rosie looked at her, and then sat down in the chair in front of the Headmistress’ desk. 

“I’m annoying you, aren’t I?” She said, a hint of amusement on her voice. 

“No, you’re not, I’m just not used to having student’s on my office while doing work.” She replied, while serving the girl a cup of warm tea. 

“Which is just a nice way of saying that I’m irritating you.” Rosie said, looking at her in the eyes. “It’s okay, there’s nothing wrong with getting easily exasperated.”

“I know there’s nothing wrong with- Look, I’m not getting annoyed. You can keep on doing whatever you want.” 

“If you say so.” Rosie replied. Boy, did the young girl test her sometimes. She wondered if she was doing it on purpose, to see her get angry. God knows her brother enjoyed doing so. As much as Farah was in gratitude towards the man, she hated when he came over. He’d always find a way to make her lose her temper, and the worst part, he actually found it amusing. Farah could see Rosie had learnt that rather unpleasant trait from him. 

She then tried to focus again on her paperwork, but it wasn’t long before the girl interrupted her once again. 

“Have you always loved paperwork so much?”

“I don’t love paperwork, it’s just a necessary and important part of my work that I can’t put off.” She calmly explained, placing her quill on the table, realising she wouldn’t be able to finish the work that afternoon. “Get up, I’m taking you to that portal now.” 

“Great!” Rosie answered, purse already in hand, getting up to get the door. 

Farah took the coat Callum was offering her, and was already walking through the halls, when she realised something. 

“Did you just annoy me into putting off my paperwork so I could take you to your home?” 

“Oh, Miss Dowling I would never!” She exclaimed, dramatically putting her hand on her chest. She sure was her father’s daughter. 

Farah addressed a stern look towards the girl, but ended the reprimand there. She wouldn’t usually let a student get away with that so easily, but Rosie was already an older student, who had done remarkably during her four years at Alfea, so she decided to go lighter on the girl. 

They were welcomed by a chill breeze when they got out, sky gloomy above them. Farah led Rosie through the woods, finally arriving at the Barrier. 

“Same instructions as last time, if something happens, you-

“Turn myself invisible and wait close to you.” She finished for her, in a soft tone. “Everything will be alright, Miss Dowling. They have probably already catched the thing and are now on its way to the prison.”

It was just then that Farah realised Saul hadn’t sent her a message yet, which was weird considering Saul always let her know the status of the mission. Preoccupation started to crawl into her stomach, and so she tried to calm herself by thinking that it was probably because the Solarian army was causing more trouble than usual, so Saul had probably been too occupied with that. Yes, that was probably it. She said to herself. Although Farah knew she wouldn’t be at ease until Saul came back. 

“Is everything alright?” Rosie asked, concerned. 

“Yes, everything is fine.” Farah was quickly to compose herself, not wanting the girl to notice how alarmed she had gotten. “Let’s keep up.” 

Farah started leading again, Rosie catching up with her until she was on her side. They remained in silence, each too focused on their own thoughts. Farah worried because of Saul, Primrose scared at the reaction her brother would have. She was so eager to see him again, she hadn’t thought on how she’d start the conversation. She would rather still be bothering Miss Dowling instead of coming up with ways her brother could get upset. 

Farah sensed the girl was a nervous wreck, so she put her own worries aside and looked at her. 

“You have nothing to be scared of,” she explained, “your brother loves you very much, and nothing can change that.” 

“No, I know that.” Rosie replied. “I’m just worried this will be somehow another burden he was to put up with.”

“How so?”

“I don’t mean a physical burden, just… a mental one. I wonder if it’ll distract him from work and stuff.”

Farah stopped walking, since they had arrived at the old building. The girl then faced the aged door, waiting for the Headmistress to do her magic. Farah placed her hand gently over the door, and a few seconds later it was turned into a portal. 

“I’ll come pick you up when you’re ready, do you think three hours will be enough?” 

“Yes, that’ll be perfect.” Rosie said, opening the door. It was a deserted alley, in one of the least busy streets in Manhattan. Farah didn’t really like leaving the girl in such a place alone, but she also knew the girl could manage herself. She had been very adamant into letting the girl know she was allowed to use her magic if the situation called for it. 

“Like in Harry Potter!” The young girl had exclaimed.

“... sure.” Farah had answered, whatever that meant. 

“Okay, I should go now. I’ll be here in three hours.” 

“I’ll be waiting here.” Farah said, starting to close the door. “Oh, and Rosie…” She added, letting her guard down for a second, “don’t be scared, everything will be alright.” 

The girl nodded at that, and then turned to continue her walk. She had told Tony she’d meet him at a restaurant, a nice homely little place that served the best vegetarian burgers. 

Since it was a rather long walk up there, and the fact that she was already late, she decided to take a taxi. She arrived at the place just fifteen minutes later, and could see through the window thatTony already sitting at the place.

“Hello!” She said, trying to surprise him from behind. 

“Hi kid,” he greeted her, unamused, “you know, you have to work on that jumpscare. I feel like I’m being threatened by a baby.”

“Ha ha…” she mocked him, taking a seat in front of him, “I’ve missed you too.”

“Missed me? You literally saw me two days ago when you started school.” 

Gosh, he was right, she thought. It had felt like way longer than just two days. 

“I can still miss you!”

The waiter arrived, and they both gave him their orders. 

“I’ve just had lunch, but I can’t refuse one of these burgers. They’re so good.”

“Mmh…” Tony replied, focused on his little sister. “What did you want to talk about kid?” 

Rosie started to get nervous again, she hadn’t expected to talk about the matter so early into the dinner. She looked at him, anxious thinking about the reaction he would have. But that was Tony. Her brother. The one person that had always been by her side and who she knew would stay forever with her, no matter what. Her best friend and the person who loved her most in the world. Whatever his reaction was, Rosie was sure it would be for good. 

“Tony, you have… you have always known I wasn’t mum and dad’s biological daughter, right?” She asked, deciding it was better to just get it over with. 

Her brother looked at her with a surprised look on his face, clearly not expecting that question. 

“Well, yeah, as a matter of fact I did.” He admitted. “When did you find out? How?” He rushed through his words, confused. 

“Because I found the real ones.” She said, looking at her brother with a concerned look. “Miss Dowling and… and Professor Silva, they’re my… my real parents.” She finally let it out and it felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. It was becoming so real now. 

“Wow… kid, that’s… wow.” He said, taking a sip from his drink. “How are you feeling?”

“I… don’t know. At first I was angry, and confused, but now I’m… Tony I really needed to talk to you, because I think I want to talk to them as… as my parents, get to know them.” She explained, grateful towards her brother for not interrupting her. “But I wanted to talk to you because I didn’t know if you would feel like I was betraying you and mum and dad…” she said, sobbing.

“Rose, what?!” He exclaimed, rushing to sit towards her so he could embrace her. “Kid, promise me you will never feel like that again. People can’t run out of love, you out of all people, can’t! It’s not like you will forget mom and dad, or that your love towards them will grow smaller… I’ll always know how much you love them, they’ll always know how much you love them… And how could you think I’d get upset by you getting to know your real parents? I think it’s wonderful!” 

“You really think so?” She asked him, looking up towards him, eyes filled with tears. 

“Kid, you get to have a loving, caring set of parents again… do you know how much of a gift that is?” 

“So, do you think I should… have a relationship with them?” 

“Rosie, that’s a choice you need to do by yourself, I’m just here to tell you how lucky you are.”

“But they gave me up!”

“And did you even ask them why?” He looked at her. Damn him, he always knew what to say. 

“No…

“Then, allow them an explanation, Rose.”

She continued sobbing on her brother’s embrace, the place where she felt the safest in the world. 

“Do you think mom and dad would have been okay with this?”

“Rosie, mom and dad loved you… they more than anyone understood that hearts have no such thing as a maximum capacity! I think they would have been thrilled that you got to meet your bonus parents!” Tony knew that, actually, their mother specially, would have been less than thrilled about sharing her little girl, but Rosie didn’t have to know that. 

Rosie laughed at how her brother called Farah and Saul ‘bonus parents’. It was nice. It made her feel as if she was not replacing her parents, just adding some new names to the bag. 

“Thank you, Tony.” She said, feeling better than she had felt in days. “Really. I love you. No matter what I hope you know that no ‘bonus’ brother or no one could replace you.” 

“Hold up, there’s a bonus brother now?!” Tony exclaimed, pretending to be annoyed. 

Rosie laughed, and then proceeded to explain everything to him, about Sky, and Terra, and Sam. They spent most of their night there, leaving the place roughly thirty minutes before the time she had told the Headmistress she would be back. They made a quick stop to get ice cream around the corner, chocolate and raspberry flavoured, Rosie's favourites, and then Tony called for a taxi so he could take her back into the Other World. 

“This is it.” She said, standing in front of the door that would transform into a portal in a matter of seconds. 

“Kid,” Tony said, grabbing her by the shoulders so she was standing in front of him, “promise me you won’t feel bad about talking to your bonus parents. Neither me nor mom and dad would feel like you loved us any less. Stop feeling selfish for doing things you have the right to do, Rose. Focus on what you want. Now tell me, do you want them to be your bonus parents?”

“...yes. Yes, Tony, I’d like to try at least.”

“Then, that’s it kid.” He said, ruffling her hair. “Go embrace that.”

“Thank you, Tony.” She said, pulling him into a tight hug. She thought about all the people she had had the privilege of loving, and realised Tony was right. There’s no such thing as running out of love. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, kid.” He said, as a bright glow came through the door’s lock. 

“That must be the Headmistress opening the portal.” Rosie explained. 

“Just promise me something kid.”

“What?”

“Annoy the heck out of that bonus mom you have, it’s hilarious.” 

“Oh, I promise I will. I’ll call you tomorrow, Tony.”

“‘I’ll be counting on that!” He said, as Rosie closed the door behind her, the same chill breeze from before indicating she was outside Alfea’s grounds. She looked up, and found Peter waiting for her. 

“Peter?” She asked, confused. 

“Dowling said she had to finish some paperwork, so she sent me to look for you.” He explained. 

“She let you come alone?” She asked, having a hard time believing his words.

“Yeah, she didn’t like it either, but I reassured her by telling her I was bringing my sword with me and that we would take care of each other. It feels nice to know that she trusts me.” He said, as he started walking towards the castle.

“Yeah, I can’t believe she did let you come alone.”

“She had a ton of paperwork to do she wasn’t able to do before, so I don’t know how clearly she was thinking behind all that.” He shrugged. Rosie laughed at herself. The paperwork she hadn’t finished because she had annoyed her so much. Miss Dowling. Her bonus mom, as Tony had said. 

“How did it go?” Peter asked him. 

“Amazing.” She said, genuinely feeling happier that she had felt in days. “Really, great. I needed to talk to Tony.”

“That’s amazing Rose.” Peter said, grabbing her hand. 

She squeezed his hold, and then they walked in silence towards the school. It was an uneventful hike, the only thing out of the ordinary they saw was a squirrel.

They finally arrived at the school, Rosie couldn’t wait to get into her bed and sleep until tomorrow. But something caught their attention on their way to their rooms. A bunch of students were gathered on the courtyard, some of them screaming at something. 

“What’s going on?” Rosie asked a random student she had never seen before. 

“It’s Silva,” the student explained, “he got hurt by the monster. They’re taking him into the greenhouse to see if Harvey can save him.”

Rosie’s heart sank into her chest. No, not now. Not him. 

She went through all the students circling the professor, finally Peter and her arriving. The sight almost makes her drop to her feet. He had black veins extending throughout his neck and body, and all of his clothes were drenched in blood. 

“What happened?” She asked, taking Musa’s place and holding Saul by his shoulders. 

“We were out in the forest looking for something, when Musa found them. The rest of the battalion were dead, Rosie.”

Rosie gulped at that. Whatever had happened, she knew it had to be worse than them not being able to control a Burned One. 

Peter quickly offered to take Terra’s place carrying Silva, which she gladly accepted. They then rushed into the greenhouse, Professor Harvey already waiting for them with a fresh batch of Zanbaq.

“Put him here.” He indicated towards an empty bench in front of him. They left the agonising man as carefully as they were able there, and then moved back to let Ben cure him. 

Peter and Dane then left the place, while Sky, Terra and Rosie remained there. 

“You saved his life. I’m so proud of you.” Ben told Terra, grabbing some tissues to help clean Saul’s wounds.

“Thanks dad.”

“How bad is it? Can you help him?” Sky asked, and Rosie could tell he was every bit as scared as she was. 

“Sky, I’ll be fine.” Saul replied, trying his best not to sound like he was in pain, not succeeding at doing so. “Just let Professor Harvey do his work.” 

The greenhouse door opened again, to reveal Farah entering, more scared and panicked than Rosie had ever seen her before, which made Rosie feel even more afraid. If Miss Dowling, the prime example of a person who was always composed was this scared, then it must be something bad. 

“I should’ve moved it right away, you should’ve had more soldiers.” She lamented. 

“Guys, could we have the room, please? We’ll keep you informed, go on.” Saul asked them 

Farah nodded at them, letting the kids know it was time for them to leave the room. They all started walking, unsure, towards the exit. But then Rosie turned around and ran towards Saul. 

“Please don’t die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so it's finally here! the last part of the second episode from fate lol. As you've might notice, I’m taking a lot of time (chapters) with each episode, since I felt the series moved too quickly! I had such a great time writing this one, I hope you enjoyed it. I can't wait to start the newxt chapter.
> 
> What do you think (or what do you want) it's going to happen now? 
> 
> Also, are you liking the new characters so far? Peter, Tony and Lily (and Rosie)? I hope so!
> 
> Okay until next chapter then!!


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